


An Angel Blooms

by TwinGames7



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Action/Adventure, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Episode Ignis Spoilers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Final Fantasy Comrades, Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Hot, Humor, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Love/Hate, Reader-Insert, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-10-12 02:50:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 56,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17459201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinGames7/pseuds/TwinGames7
Summary: The sweet and smexy love story:You are part of the Kingsglaive and King Regis has asked you to accompany Noctis and his friends on their journey. The four men don't seem too happy about it, but maybe they'll learn to like you over time.This story is about Gladio. Keep your eyes open for my other fanfics about the other Chocobros. Also, I do not own any of this. All credit goes to Square Enix. for making such an incredible game.





	1. Chapter 1

"Your Highness!" Drautos, the captain of the Kingsglaive, calls out to Prince Noctis and his escorts while King Regis quickly walks down the front steps to his palace without us. 

This is the land of Eos, and King Regis and Prince Noctis rule the city of Insomnia and our country, Lucis. Today, the prince is going to Altissia, a foreign land, to marry the Oracle, Lady Lunafreya. While he's gone, King Regis will be here signing a peace treaty with Niflheim, the enemy of Lucis. Noctis and Lunafreya's marriage will be the symbol of this coming peace.

However, everyone who works for King Regis knows the truth. Niflheim does not want a ceasefire. They just want to attack the Citadel from within after the King lowers our cities defenses. Why the King would allow this to happen, no one knows. The Kingsglaive, an elite group of soldiers, have been preparing for this attack for weeks now. I am one of those elite soldiers.

Originally, I was assigned to help escort Lady Lunafreya to King Regis to obtain the Ring of the Lucii. Then I'd help her escape safely. However, the King started to feel paranoid. He knew the empire would be hunting Noct, so they reassigned me to escort the prince. Prince Noctis and his three Crownsguards are the only ones who don't know about any of this. They believe the ceasefire is real.

"Y/N" I snap out of my train of thought and see King Regis motioning his hand for me to come forward. I look over at my captain nervously. He nods his head and I walk towards his Majesty with my arms behind my back my head held high with confidence. I stop in front of the Prince, place my right hand over my heart and bow.

"Your Highness," I say as politely as possible. I straighten my back and see all four men look at me with mild confusion.

I had never actually met the Prince before and I had no idea who the others were. His Highness has spiky black hair and blue eyes. I see he's wearing a Crownsguards outfit: A long black jacket over a black t-shirt littered with mini skulls that wrapped round his collar and spilled down the left side of his shirt. He also has black cropped jeans and black boots. He has a black motorcycle glovelet on his left hand.

"This is Y/N L/N. I've asked her to go with you boys to Altissia," King Regis explains. All of them look even more confused and unhappy except one. A tall and muscular man, with slightly long dark brown hair and the same color eyes. I couldn't quite tell, but it looked like he smirked at me.

"Why?" Prince Noctis asks, "I think the four of us will be fine on our own."

"I just want to make sure you get there." says his father. He gives Noctis a serious look, probably hoping it will keep him from arguing. Noctis rolls his eyes. He seems unhappy with this arrangement. I try to stay as professional as possible.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will not get in your way." He does not respond. One of the three men from before motions his head for me to come with him and the other two towards a beautiful, jet black roofless car, while the King and his son continue to talk. I walk towards the vehicle with my hands still behind me. 

The man turns to face me and I'm shocked to see that he looked pretty professional for a Crownsguard. He wears a purple and black button up under a black suit jacket, black jeans, and dress shoes. He seemed pretty smart, but not much of a fighter. I wonder if he can really hold his own.

"Hello," he says. His voice catches me off guard. He has a very strong British accent that makes him seem even more mature than he already did. "I am Noctis' royal adviser, Ignis Scientia. I believe I caught your name is Y/N." He holds a gloved hand out to me. Well, now it makes sense why he looked so professional.

"Yes, nice to meet you, Ignis." I say as I shake his hand. His expression does not change as he shakes my hand and motions to the other two men.

"This is Noctis's royal shield, Gladiolus Amicitia." He gestures to a tall man with a large build leaning on the side of the car with his arms crossed. He wears a black leather jacket with no shirt underneath. He had a small arm sleeve on his left wrist. A large tattoo of a bird is stretched across his arms, probably meeting on his back.

He lifts up a hand to greet me, "Nice to meet you, Y/N" hearing my name from his gruff voice made me weak in my knees.

"H-hey," I mumbled. 

He laughed as he scanned my body, "This should make for an interesting trip." I'm filled with an urge to cover my body from his wondering eyes.

Ignis continued with introductions normally, as if this wasn't unusual for his friend," And that is Noctis' friend, Prompto Argentum." He points to a blonde, slender man playing on his phone in the passenger seat of the Regalia. His black knuckle gloves, black t-shirt and sleeveless jacket makes him look like a bit of a punk.

"Alright, let's get out of here." I turn to face Noctis walking up behind me looking rather annoyed by the situation. I open the left door of the back seat for him and I once again bow with my hand over my heart.

"Your Highness."

He grunts lightly, "Just call me Noct," he begins stepping in, "and drop that 'Your Highness' act. It's annoying." He steps into the car and closes the door himself. I feel heat rising to my cheeks in embarrassment for upsetting the prince.

Gladio smacks him across the back of the head, "Ow! What the hell?"

"Quit being rude to this nice young lady," he looks back at me as he says this and smiles. Now the heat in my cheeks was replaced by flattery.

"Come on," he said as he walked to the other side of the Regalia, "Sit next to me," 

I hesitate at first as he holds the door open for me, "Oh, okay." I step inside next to Noct and Gladio follows.

It's awkwardly silent for a long time until Gladio speaks up. I had expected him to start making small talk, but he just gets straight to the point.

"So, may I ask why King Regis sent you to come with us?" Gladio asked politely but suspiciously. I knew the reason why but was authorized not to tell them.

"I'm not sure" I lied. I hoped they wouldn't notice the uneasiness in my voice. Noct scoffed.

"I guess Dad really doesn't trust me then. We're just going to Altissia." 

Gladio chuckles, "I'm not complaining,"

I felt a bit uncomfortable. All of them seemed to be unhappy about my presence. Even Gladio seemed unsure of me. I could sense it. Not only that, but he was very intimidating.

"Don't be so rude, Noct." Ignis scolded.

Noct scoffs again, "Whatever," he mumbles. 

I just stare down at my hands in my lap. Something tells me that this wasn't going to work out at all.


	2. Chapter 2

I pull off the jacket of my Glaive uniform and throw it in the back seat in frustration. I'm sitting on the rear of the Regalia, pouring sweat from the sweltering heat beating down on the five of us. I place my elbows on my knees and try to wipe the sweat from my face. I had tried to be as polite as possible, since I had just met these guys, but right now I wasn't in the mood to be nice.

I sigh in annoyance and throw my arms down. "None of you thought to check the engine before we left?" I asked rudely.

"How were we supposed to know the car would break down?" Noct responded in an annoyed tone.

"It's your car. I figured you would have noticed something wrong with it before." We sat in silence for a moment as Gladio attempted to hitch us a ride. We were all covered in sweat since we all wore nothing but black clothes and drove in a pitch-black car.

After a few cars drove by without stopping Gladio gave up.

"I think we can forget about hitching our way there" he leaned against the vehicle in defeat, "Thought people were friendly outside the city."

Ignis is sitting in the driver's seat with his head and arms resting on the steering wheel. "You can only count so far on the kindness of strangers."

Gladio stretched out his arms and began walking towards the back of the Regalia. "Guess we're gonna have to push her all the way."

I hop off the car and walk over the the side of the Regalia facing away from the road. Prompto is there sprawled out on the paved road as if he were about to die of heat. I nudge his leg with my foot, "Get up, Prompto."

"But I've already pushed myself to the brink of death," he gasped dramatically. I roll my eyes as Gladio tries getting Noctis and Prompto up himself. I had expected Prompto to be more of a young punk when I first saw him, but instead he's just a cowardly jokester. I guess it's not always such a bad thing, but I am not in a good mood at the moment.

I place my hands on the back of the car ready to push, when a bigger hand suddenly brushes against mine. I looked up to see Gladio standing a little closer to me than I was expecting. Istare up at him nervously. 

"Why don't you switch with Iggy. Let us boys handle this," he said with a light smile.

His words didn't sit right with me. Was he implying that I was week because of my gender? I place my hands on my hips and glared up at him, "Oh yea, big guy? What? Am I some kind of fragile damsel in distress to you?"

He held up his hands and looked at each boy, "Whoa. You're pretty feisty, aren't ya?" 

Before I could make another comment he leaned forward so his face was up in mine. My tough appearance instantly shattered, "I'm just trying to look out for a pretty young woman such as yourself,"

Being a female glaive has always been tough. Everyone thinks your just some cheer leader for the group or something. So it's not uncommon that guys will speak to me like this. I normally get angry and show guys like him how tough I really am. I started to do that, but something about Gladio just throws off my train of thought.

"Oh," I stuttered as Gladio moved away from me, "Thanks." I did my best not to look at him as I headed for the driver's seat. Ignis stepped out and held the door open for me. After thanking him and getting inside he closed the door and went behind the Regalia.

All four of them began pushing the vehicle while I kept the car on the road. The whole way to Hammerhead all I could think about was Gladio. He was pretty intimidating in multiple ways. However, he did seem unsure of me, like I was some kind of threat.

They all seemed so sure that after we reach Altissa they would never have to see me again, but I know we are going to be stuck together for weeks, maybe even months. I should have told King Regis no. Then some other Glaive would be in my place dealing with this instead of me. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we reached Hammerhead, we tried to relax and wait for Cid to come and take care of the Regalia. Cid was an old friend of King Regis, so his Majesty asked us to meet him in Hammerhead before heading to the boat in Galdin Quay. Now that the Regalia broke down we didn't have much of a choice anyway.

"Hey! Y'all kept the girl waitin'!" I turn toward the voice and find a young woman in a very skimpy mechanic outfit walking in our direction.

"There's no way she fixes cars in that," I thought.

I looked at Gladio and immediately noticed him scanning her body like he had done with me. He never took his eyes off her as she scanned the car and talked to the boys.

Ah... I'm getting it now. He's just an arrogant play boy, complimenting and helping beautiful women just so he can get into their pants. 

I just lay my head back and start ignoring the people around me. I sat there wishing I was anywhere but here with these guys. Although I am a tough and fearless elite soldier, I'm still human. I still have emotions, and these boys have made me feel every negative emotion possible. It hasn't even been a full 24 hours and I'm already unhappy.

"Roll her in while I'm still young!" Cid came out from the garage to look at the Regalia. I immediately exit the car so that I'm not in his way. After taking a look at it, Cid rudely asked us to roll the vehicle inside the garage so that he could fix it. Was everyone personally associated with the royal family like this? King Regis was always so kind though. After we got the vehicle in the garage, Cindy gave us a map of Lucis.

All of us began looking around the outpost until Prompto's words stopped me in my tracks, "What's a gil?" he asked.

I turn around to face them and put my hands on my hips, "Hold on a sec, you have money, don't you?" The look on their faces and their silence told me no. "How are we supposed to pay for the repair if we don't have any money?"

"Guess will just have to talk to Cindy!" Prompto said excitedly. I roll my eyes and follow the boys to Cindy.

"She ain't gonna be ready for a while. Y'all need somethin'?"

"We're strapped for cash," said Gladio, "anyway we could earn a little?"

"Oh, I get it. This must be what pawpaw meant when he said he was gonna teach you guys a lesson." Cindy then offered to pay for us as long as we took care of some pest that have been causing trouble around Hammerhead.

Maybe I could show these guys what I'm really made of. I didn't train all my life as a member of the Crownsguard and then became a Glaive just for some guy to treat me like a fragile girl.

Cindy informed us that the pest causing trouble were Reapertails. They are giant scorpion like creatures. We head out into the vast desert in search of the monsters. After about an hour we found a group of Reapertails.

We all duck behind a rock and watch the scorpion like creatures.

"These must be the pests Cindy was talking about." Ignis whispered.

"Well go on," Gladio challenged as he lightly bumped my shoulder.

I look over at him, raising an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

He smirked, "If you're not a 'fragile damsel in distress', then prove it," I sighed and observed my enemies closely. This would be easy. 

"Fine." 

I looked at the creatures carefully. I picked up a small rock, aiming it carefully before throwing it towards the horde. The rock hit nothing, but it attracted them all to one spot. 

I stood up carefully and summoned a greatsword. I threw it towards the horde and warped before my weapon hit anything. I then swung the blade as hard as I could, slicing through the scorpions with ease.

"How the heck did you do that?!" Prompto yelled.

I turn to face the boys, "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You warped! And you cast magic! I thought only Noct and the King could do that."

I arch my eyebrow and look at him in disbelief "You mean to tell me you three are working to join the Kingsglaive and yet you don't know anything about being a Glaive?"

"Of course we knew Glaives can warp." Ignis assures.

"Prompto is the only one who doesn't." Gladio said as he ruffled the blond's hair. Prompto looked at the ground with a small amount of shame.

I sigh, "The King uses the Crystal that was given to Lucis so that Crownsguards and Glaives can sort of... 'borrow' his power. Crownsguards can only summon weapons, but Glaives can warp and use magic."

"So, I'll be able to warp too someday?!" He asks like an excited child, "Wait a sec, how come you don't use magic Noct? I've always seen you use magic flasks like us."

Noct shrugs, "I just choose not to."

"Why?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Guess I prefer to do things the hard way." He answered smuggly.

We continue to search the desert for more Reapertails, making sure to get rid of every single one. The others help me with the rest instead of watching me. I tried to glance over at Gladio every now and then, wanting to watch him at work, but all I could see was the weapons they all used. Ignis uses daggers and a polearm. Gladio uses a greatsword and shield. And Prompto uses guns and machines.

After a while Noct received a call on his cellphone.

"Hello?"

"..." I can just barely make out a womans voice, but I can't hear what exactly she's saying.

"Actually, we just finished."

"..."

"Old shack?" Noct looks around and stops when he spots a building in the distance. "Ah, got it. We'll take a look."

"Who was that?" I ask as he hangs up the phone.

"Cindy. Said she needs us to find some 'Dave' guy." I wonder when he had given her his number.

"He went missing?" Gladio asks with a worried tone. It seemed strange coming from him.

"Not 'missing'. Said he's held up in that shack." We all make our way to the old building. I wonder why Dave couldn't make it back to Hammerhead on his own. Maybe he was badly injured, or maybe all the Reapertails kept him from leaving.

When we get to the old wooden building it's empty. "Where could he be?" I asked.

"Let us search for clues." Ignis suggested. We look around for a while, but there's not much to see besides dust and old furniture. I look over at Noct and see him looking down at a piece of paper left on a table.

"What's that?" I asked walking towards him.

"Some kind of report. Something about a dangerous creature."

"Let's find Dave quickly then. Before that thing finds him first." We head outside and take a look at our surroundings wondering where Dave could be.

"Look," we follow Prompto's gaze and find an even smaller shack not far from where we are standing, "Maybe that's the shack Cindy meant."

I see something moving in front of the shack and move closer to get a better look at it. "There's a bunch of Sabertusks guarding it." The others stand by my side, watching the group of beasts.

"No problem. Let's do this." Prompto loads his gun and begins walking towards the enemy.

Ignis pulls him back by his shirt collar, "We should come up with a strategy first." We're all silent for a moment. I look over at Noct with his arms crossed.

"Why don't we use our warping ability together to catch them off guard," he looks at me as though trying to analyze me.

"And while they're distracted us three will finish the job," Gladio finishes.

I nod, "That's right"

"Huh, so your strong and smart. Good thinking, Y/N" Gladio's compliment gave me whiplash. He voiced it in such a sincere tone, but it came off as demeaning. As if it were so surprising that a woman could do more than look pretty.

I just roll my eyes and ignore the comment. We all look over at Noctis, waiting for him to agree to the plan. He seems hesitant at first. He sighs, "Alright, let's do it."

We both summon our swords and wait for an opening. Once we're ready we both aim for the same enemy. Our double warp strike instantly kills the beast. The rest of them jump back in shock and then quickly surround us once they realize what's happening. Before they can pounce Noct and I point warp onto the shack. The Sabertusks circle around the building jumping every so often, hoping they can catch us and drag us down. Suddenly I see a magic flask flying towards them. There is a small explosion of flames. Some of them die in mere seconds while others roll around trying to put out the flames. The three boys then run in to finish off the remaining beasts.

"That wasn't so bad," Noct says as we hop back down, "I could get use to working with you." I didn't know how to respond. Gladio's a bit of a jerk, but maybe the others are alright.

"Who's out there?" Before I come up with a response the door of the shack opens behind us. A man slowly limps outside and leans against the doorway.

"You're Dave, right? Been looking for you." Gladio said.

Dave explains to us what happened. He tried to take down a dangerous animal out here, but then he sprained his ankle while being chased by that pack of Sabertusk and has been hiding in this shack.

"Y'all don't look much like hunters, but whaddaya say? Put that puppy to rest for me?"

"Sounds too dangerous to be let alone. Tell us where to go." Ignis answers. Dave tells us where he last saw the monster and Noct immediately heads in the direction Dave specifies.

"Noct," Ignis calls, "It's getting dark out. It would be wise to rest up before we set out."

Noct thinks for a moment. I hadn't even realized the sun beginning to set. "Alright. Where will we stay?"

"Well, according to the map there should be a haven nearby." Ignis leads us to the campsite with the map. The boys talk about who will do what to help set camp. Of course, they don't include me.

"So," I said awkwardly attempting to slide into the conversation, "What do you guys want me to do?"

"Actually," Gladio answers, "before we set up I think we should train first."

Prompto whines, "Do we have to?"

"I just want to see Y/N in action."

I scoffed, "Didn't we already establish my skills earlier with those Reapertails?"

"That was child's play. You'd have more of a challenge fighting one of us. So, who will you train with?"

I glared at him, "How about you, big guy? Since you act like your so tough,"

He laughed, "You sure about that, sweetheart?"

I blushed like crazy and started yelling, "Don't say things like that! And yea I'm sure. What? Are you scared?"

He chuckled, "No way. But I have to warn you: I'm not gonna hold back,"


	3. Chapter 3

I am such an idiot.

Here I was thinking I was some kind of bad ass with my warping powers and magic. And yet, I was hanging from my sword on the edge of a cliff like a coward.

"Hey, what's wrong, Y/N?" Gladio shouted between tired breathes, "I thought you were tough," My face burned with anger at his comment. 

I threw my weapon for a warpstrike, but he managed to dodge it causing me to warp back down with my back turned to him. After landing, I quickly turned around and blocked his attack with my sword. We stood eye to eye trying to break the other. However, I was clearly struggling while he looked like he was barely trying. 

He chuckled and parried me with ease. I slipped and nearly fell back until I felt a hand wrap around my waist. Gladio pulled me forward until I was on my feet and pressed against his hot body. The heat of the sun was already burning my tender skin, but the places where he touched me felt even hotter. It was like his touch was causing me to go up in flames.

"I have to admit you are pretty tough," he said seductively, "I like a woman who can take care of herself,"

I became flustered and quickly pushed him away, "I'm not done with you, yet!" Once I was free I summoned my sword and went to attack him while he was caught off guard, but he quickly dodged me again and this time I felt his fingers wrap tightly around my wrist.

He pulled me to face him and then got close enough to me that I was leaning against the edge of the cliff. The action was so quick he might has well have slammed me into the jagged rock. As painful as it was I was distracted by him. He had my arm held up on one side of my head like he was pinning me. His other hand was placed on the cliff on the other side of my head and he leaned over above me, I was intimidated, but not out of fear.

He spoke in that gruff tone again, but this time he was close enough to my ear that I could feel his warm breath as he talked, "Oh, I think you are, sweetheart."

I just stared up at him completely frozen. My breath became uneasy and I could feel the color in my cheeks. He pissed me off, but I'm still a woman with a sexual attraction to guys like him. He laughed and pulled away from me.

He gave me a pat on the back and said, "You did good. You may have lost, but I'm impressed by your level of skill." I glared up at him. How could he seem so into me one minute and then just friendly the next? Is he toying with me?

For the next hour we all took turns fighting each other. I stayed out on the side most of the time though. I didn't want to risk him messing with me again.

Afterwards, Noct and Prompto set out camping chairs while Gladio pitched the tent. I had decided to help Ignis make dinner, since he seemed to be the most polite. As we prepared the meal he told me that the others don't normally help him. This made me slightly determined to keep helping, since it would show the others what real manners look like. 

His cooking was absolutely amazing. I don't think I'll ever taste anything half as good as this. They talked about a bunch of different things around the glow of the fire that night. I contributed to some of the conversation, but I was still nervous to talk to or be around them. As the night grew longer, sleep began to take over all of us. Prompto stretch and yawned in his chair.

"I think it's time we hit the hay." He said.

They all stood up from their chairs and after putting out the fire the four men started climbing into the one tent one by one. Gladio was about to be the last one in, but then he looked back at me awkwardly sitting by the burnt logs. 

"Aren't you coming?" He asked as he gestured to the tent. He took a step towards me and put his hands on his hips, "or are scared to share a tent with four handsome men?"

"N-No!" I yelled.

He walked towards, "Come on. Quit being a wuss."

"I'm not!" He laughed and came close to me. He leaned down grabbed my chin and lifted my head to look at him. Our faces were inches a part, "Y'know your cute when you get angry. I could get used to teasing you,"

I pushed his hand away and crossed my arms, "Just go inside. I'll sleep out here," his face became serious. He hadn't actually looked at me this way since we met earlier this morning.

"No, you're not," he said, losing his teasing tone, "C'mon. Its cold and you shouldn't be out here all night,"

"Make me then!" I look away from him, hoping he'd leave.

He sighed, "You asked for it," I felt one hand wrap around my torso while the other come up under my knees. He scooped me up bridal style and carried me to the tent.

"You bastard! Put me down!" I swung my arms and legs around but it was no use.

"Stop it," he whispered angrily, "You're gonna wake the others up and make me drop you," I scoffed and just crossed my arms.

When we reached the tent, he put me inside before coming in himself. He then zipped it up and laid in front of the exit, "There's no chance you'll get past me,"

I pouted a little before begrudgingly crawling over the other boys to the opposite side of the tent next to Ignis. No way was I sleeping near him.

"Goodnight, cutie,"

"Shut up!" I whispered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up the next morning being rudely shaken by one of the boys. I slowly opened an eye slightly and peaked at who it was.

"You've slept long enough. Come get breakfast so we may leave," Ignis said before exiting the tent.

I groaned as I sat up. I was the only one in the tent at this point. I just sat there rubbing my eyes, feeling slightly bad for not helping with breakfast. I crawled to the tent opening and blocked my face from the burning sun as I exited. 

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried to open them despite the sunlight. All of the boys greeted me with a good morning as Ignis handed me my breakfast.

After eating and cleaning up camp we went in search of the dangerous animal Dave had mentioned yesterday. We fought a few more enemies along the way, and we all worked together more than we had before. I guess I really proved my worth to them when I fought Ignis.

Eventually, we found a large Dualhorn like creature, but it looked a lot more aggressive. It was tough at first, but we took it down. Not long after that, Cindy called to tell us the Regalia was fixed.

We quickly made our way back to Hammerhead. Prompto seemed the most excited about seeing Cindy again.

When we got back, we saw she had done more than just fixed the car. She had polished the whole thing to perfection. She said Dave got back last night and his ankle would be just fine. I noticed Gladio watching her with hungry eyes again. I wanted nothing more than to kick his ass for that. 

We thanked Cindy for the trouble and then got ready to head for Galdin Quay. The others were excited to get to Altissia, but I remembered what King Regis had told me before yesterday.

I wondered what would really happen there. Would Noct still marry Lady Lunafreya? Would the empire come and execute Noct and the rest of us? And what if they found out that I knew the truth of the ceasefire? And... would I end up falling for that playboy?


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, I see the sea!" Prompto yells. As we drive down the twisted road we marvel at the beautiful view of the ocean.

"I 'sea' it, too!" Noct says. As we continue to drive a small gazebo like structure comes into view.

"That's Galdin Quay" Ignis informs.

"Kinda wanna go for a dip" Gladio says as he stands up in the Regalia for a better look. I start imaging what Gladio would look like in swim trunks. It can't be much different from his normal outfit. 

As I gaze upon Galdin I see something strange in the distance. It looks like two enormous horns poking out of the water in the distance.

"What's that behind it?" I ask.

"That a big mountain?" Noct pitches in.

Ignis answers in a dull tone, as if to show how much smarter he is, "No, it's an island."

Prompto looks back at Noct and I, "Nobody goes to Galdin for an island," he says, "they go to kick back and get messages."

"And savor the sea food," Ignis adds, "it's famously delicious."

Once we reach the parking lot and get out of the car, Prompto starts running around to take photos. Gladio, Prompt, and Noct really wanted to just hang out and relax for a bit, but Ignis said there was no time. We all walked along the dock towards the restaurant and hotel that sits on the water. There should be a boat in the back that will take us to Altissia. Once we reach the restaurant an employee greets us, "Welcome to Galdin Quay!" We all stop in our tracks to see a very strange man walking towards us. He looks like he's in a very large, dark robe with many layers underneath. He wears a hat of a similar color on top of his dark reddish-purple locks.

"I'm afraid your out of luck" he said in a quiet and ominous voice.

"Are we?" Noct responded snobbishly. For a second, he really sounded like a stuck up prince. The man looked back and gestured to where the boats should be.

"The boats bring you here..."

"And?" I ask crossing my arms. How did he even know we were here for the boats?

"Well, they'll not take you forth."

"So, what's your story?" Gladio asks. He moves me with one arm so that I'm standing behind him as if he were a protective mother or something.

What the...?

"I'm an impatient traveler," the man said as he walked right through us, "ready to turn ship." He stopped and stood there, "the ceasefire's getting us nowhere," he looked down at the palm of his hand. He seemed creepy and suspicious, and he looks like he never stopped smiling a devilish grin. He then suddenly turned to flick a silver coin at Noct's face. Gladio managed to catch it just in time, and laid out his palm for all of us to see.

"What's this? Some kind of souvenir?" He asked.

"Consider it your allowance" the man answered.

Gladio seemed fed up with him. He walked closer, sizing him up, "Oh yea? And who's allowing us?" It was interesting seeing him like this.

The man threw up his arms slightly. He seemed unfazed by Gladio, "A man of no consequence." We watched as he walked towards the beach, never looking back at us.

"Well that was weird." I said.

"Whatever, lets just pretend that didn't happen." Noct said, still pretty weirded out.

"You think he was serious about the port closing?" Prompto asked.

Ignis started heading for the docks, "I'm skeptical, but I won't discount the possibility."

When we reached the docks, it was empty.

"Aw man. Not a ship in sight. What gives?" Prompto said in a disappointed tone. I looked back at Ignis to see him reading what appeared to be a port schedule painted on a big wooden board. There were no boat schedules, however, just the words "OUT OF ORDER" printed in bold.

"'Out of order' indeed." He said.

"According to my sources, the empire giving strict orders not to let any vessels leave the docks of Altissia." We all look down to see a skinny man sitting on a bench next to us. "Real shame if you were late to your own wedding- right, Prince Noctis?" He said proudly, as if he figured out some huge secret, "Name's Dino, by the way. Pleasure." He continued by explaining he was a reporter, and that he would expose Noct unless we did what he asked. We were all reluctant at first. We hadn't exactly tried to keep our identities a secret but being exposed by the press would cause problems.

He marked a location on our map, not far from Galdin, and requested that we find a red gemstone somewhere in that area.

"And why should we do this for you?" I asked, the others looked slightly worried that I would accidentally anger him. All of them except Gladio that is. He seemed impressed, "Sure, being exposed would be bad, but do you really think we'll do this for a stranger without compensation?"

"I figured you'd say something like that. Do this and I'll get you a ship," he said, "don't, and the papers will run ya outta town, capice?" We walked back to the parking lot so we could grab it and leave as soon as possible. When we got close to the area, the road was at the bottom of a mini canyon. We could see a ramp like structure leading from the road to the top of the cliff like rocks.

"Do we have to walk?" Prompto whined as we got out of the car.

"You see a better way?" Gladio asked.

We climbed up and walked towards the location on our map. We began walking through a small alcove when Prompto frozen in horror.

"Oh. Em. Gee," we looked to see a giant black bird sleeping in front of us. Ignis motioned all of us to crouch and keep quiet. He watched the bird carefully then motioned us to follow him. Prompto began to panic.

"We're supposed to get near that thing?!" He whispered.

"Pipe down before you wake up" Gladio demanded through his teeth. We slowly crawled around the bird to the other side of it. We found a large rock with the gemstones trapped inside.

"How the heck are we supposed do this?" I whispered. Noct searched the large chunk of rock and found a loose gemstone.

"Got it" we made our way back carefully, but half way through the large bird began to move. We all frozen and stared up at it in disbelief. The creature stood up and spread out its wings, ready to charge.

Right before it had, however, something pulled me down by my torso. I landed on something warm and rough, yet softer than ground. I wanted to see what I was lying on, but I kept my head down as the beast flew past us. I could hear what sounded like a heartbeat and whatever I was on heaved up and down. I immediately realized what was happening.

After the harsh wind from the bird stopped I figured the monster had left and I lifted my head. Gladio had pulled me on top of him to get me away from the monster. His hands had moved onto my waist as he looked up and flashed me a toothy smile, "You alright, sweetheart?"

I started blushing like crazy and quickly stood up, "I-I'm fine!" I turned away from him with my arms crossed, "I didn't even need your help,"

He laughed, "Right. Well, either way I saved you. The least you could do is help me up, sweetheart,"

I looked back at him to see he was holding out his hand. I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly helped him up, "Whatever. Let's just bring the stupid gemstone to Dino. And stop calling me sweetheart!"

He smirked and put his hands in his pockets. He leaned a little closer to me and stared right into my eyes, "Fine. How about cutie?"

"No!" I yelled.

"Okay. Would babe be better?" My face burned with anger.

Before I could respond, Noct groaned, "Stop being such a womanizer, Gladio, and let's go." Well, I guess one of his closest friends calling him a womanizer confirms his intentions.

We quickly climbed back down to the Regalia and made our way back to Dino. When we gave him the stone he claimed to be an amateur jeweler as well, and he needed this gemstone as soon as possible. Blackmailing us was all he could do to get it. Although he had promised us a ship, it wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow morning, so we thought we would just relax here for the rest of the day. Noct, Prompto, and Gladio decided they wanted to go swimming first. I saw this as an opportunity. Maybe I could play with Gladio as pay back. Wave the prize he wants in front of his eyes and never let him have it.

"Iggy, aren't you coming?" Prompto asked. We looked back to see Ignis about to walk off to the hotel.

"I'm not particularly fond of wondering around in public in nothing but a pair of swim trunks." Ignis answered, "Besides, wouldn't you like to change at the hotel?"

"Our stuff is still in the car. It'd be faster if we just change at the caravan nearby,"

Ignis nodded, "Very well. Perhaps I'll get started on dinner," Ignis then turned his attention to me, "Am I safe in assuming you'd like separate rooms?" He asked. I nodded and he left.

After grabbing our bathing suites, we changed in the caravan one by one. Prompto and Noct looked more or less normal. They definitely had a bit more muscle than I would have expected. Gladio on the other hand almost caused me to lose my cool. I may not have feelings for him, but how can anyone deny his attractiveness? I had almost forgotten my plan until he immediately turned his attention to two girls walking by, staring at him. He had walked right past me to the two girls and I filled with rage. Just you wait, Gladio. I'm gonna make you forget about those girls!

I step inside the caravan to change into my black bikini. The top was tied in the front by two strings that dangled down on my torso. The bottoms also had strings hanging from the sides. I quickly head over to the restroom inside and look at myself in the mirror. I mess with my H/C hair a little bit before being satisfied. When I step outside Noct does a double take and Prompto's jaw hits the floor. I have a pretty nice body, so I don't really blame them. I look around, but Gladio is nowhere to be found.

"What happened to the big guy?" I ask.

"Walked off with those two girls," Noct answered as he turned away to head for the beach, losing interest in my appearance. It hurt that Gladio had just left with two strangers. I sighed and followed Noct to the water.

The three of us ran around, splashing each other with water and having fun. I had more or less forgot about Gladio as we played around. The sun began to set as the two boys decided to rest on the beach. I stayed in the water, searching for seashells. I found them prettier when they are still in the water. After feeling a shell on the sea ground, I pick it up and stand up on my knees to look at it.

Suddenly, I feel someone's hand wrap around my torso and pull me up against their body, "What'd you got there, babe?" My body freezes with fear for a moment. I feel this man's hand squeeze my torso slightly with pleasure.

He leans in to whisper in my ear, his lips slightly grazing my earlobe, "What's wrong? I thought you said you were tough but you look scared," All of the fear in my body is replaced by anger. I pull away from his grasp and turn to see that the man was Gladio.

"What the hell do you think your doing creep?" I yell, "Go back to those stupid girls!" I stomp off in the direction of the caravan but his words stopped me before I left the water, "But I found a much hotter girl," That comment stabbed me in the heart. So, that's it... he doesn't care about me, or any other girl for that matter. He's just some sex fiend.

Bastard...

I scoffed and continued on, "Buzz off!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up the next morning to the alarm Ignis had set on my alarm clock. I could barely get any rest last night. All I could do was worry about the ceasefire. Last night was the signing for the peace treaty. The war may be well over now and I hope Insomnia won. I quickly got dressed and went through the door that joined our two rooms. Everyone except Ignis was here.

"Iggy?" I asked.

"Should be back any minute." Gladio answered. I glared at him and walked off to one of the beds in the room to wait. After a few minutes Ignis walked in with an unreadable expression. I choked. No one else knew why he looked so sullen, but I did. He stared at Noct for a while, probably trying to find the right words.

"What's that look for?" He asked. Ignis sighed and handed a newspaper weakly to Gladio.

"It's in all the papers," he said glumly as he dropped his hand to his side.

"What is it?" Noct asked sounding more concerned. The silence lasted an eternity. I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I wanted to hear that Insomnia won. But the next words that would leave Prompto's mouth as he read over Gladio's shoulder would fill me with despair and regret.

"Insomnia... Falls"


	5. Chapter 5

"This your idea of a joke?" Noct yelled.

"I need you to calm down so I can explain." Ignis said. Noct stomp towards him, getting up in his face.

"I'm as calm as I'm gonna get!"

Ignis sighed, "There was an attack. The imperial army has taken the Crown City."

I turned away from all of them and looked out the glass wall that overlooked the ocean. I didn't want to see any of their faces right now. My lungs began to constrict the longer I held in my breath. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't breathe. My mind was full of questions. Did the King make it out alive? Did he escape in time? What good is a Glaive without a King to protect?

Gladio began reading the article which claimed that the King did not survive. I didn't want to believe that though. Maybe Niflheim just wants everyone to think he's dead. I already knew Lunafreya would be in Insomnia, since I was originally going to be the one to help her escape after she got the Ring from King Regis. Maybe whoever took my place helped him escape too. Noct just couldn't understand what was happening. In the time I've spent with him I realized he really wanted to marry Luna. He didn't really show it, but it was obvious how thrilled he was about the ceasefire. But now that was all crumbling before his very eyes.

"We had no way of knowing," Ignis said, but he was wrong. They did have a way of knowing. If I had just said something, anything, maybe we all could have done something. The silence in the room felt deadly. I continued to look out the window, wanting to disappear before they could ask me anything.

"Y/N," Ignis' voice made my body run cold. I did not look back at him or respond. When he realized I would not speak he continued, "did you know anything about this?" I was still frozen in place. The words would not get past the lump in my throat and my eyes began to burn. I forced out a shaky breath and slowly turned around. I looked at each of their faces starving down on my intensely.

My voice trembled as I spoke, "Y-yes... I did," They all looked shocked and angry. Noct stood up and walked towards me.

"You... Why didn't say anything?!" He yelled.

My jaw fell slightly, "Noct, I" I stopped and sighed. What could I possibly say? What could possibly make this all okay again? I decided to just tell them everything that King Regis told me, "The ceasefire was a lie. Niflheim used it as a pretense so that they could attack the Citadel from the inside. His Majesty already knew, right away, but he didn't want to just sit around and do nothing. He did not send you four out to Altissia so that Noct could marry Lady Lunafreya. He wanted Noct to escape days before the signing and stay safe." It was quiet. None of them knew what to say.

Noct backed away from me. His head shook slightly as if to deny what he heard, "Why?" Noct whimpered, "Why did he lie to me?"

I took a deep breath and continued, "He knew you wouldn't leave his side if he told you."

Gladio sighed, "Well then. What are we supposed to do?" He asked me.

I shook my head, "He didn't say. All he told me was that he was becoming more and more afraid of Noctis' safety. He knew the imperial army would come looking for you all, so he wanted to send another Crownsguard with you guys. However, they were all assigned to escort civilians out of Insomnia. The King felt that the safety of his people was more important than his own, so... he asked Captain Drautos to choose one of the best in the Kingsglaive to accompany you all."

No one said a word. I turned back and looked far beyond the ocean. I knew I would have to tell them eventually, but I knew it would be hard for them to understand. I then heard Gladio speak up, "What else do we know?" I assumed he was referring to everyone now. I shook my head slightly to signify that I was finished. "Well, let's go back and see how bad the damage is." We all faced Gladio, unsure of what to say.

"It might not be safe for us there," Ignis warned.

"Well it might not be safe for us here," Prompto countered. We all looked at Noct.

"Turn back?" Gladio asked.

He hesitated, "Yea."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Up ahead!" Prompto yelled. Ignis slammed the brakes just in time. The road to Insomnia was blocked by cars and Imperial Soldiers.

"Looks like they've set up an inspection point," Ignis said.

"If the road ahead's blocked then we'll find another way," Gladio said. Ignis looked around and saw a hidden dirt path leading to the side of the gate.  
We drove for a while until the road ended. We stepped out in to the rain and we hadn't walked long before finding a group of soldiers blocking our path.

"It's the Magitek Infantry," Ignis explained as we hid behind a pile of building blocks.

"The robots?" Gladio asked.

"Mass produced, humanoid weapons of warfare to be more precise."

"Doesn't look like they'll be signing that peace treaty." Prompto commented. Noctis' face was filled with anger. He summoned his blade and stared at the robots carefully.

"You wanna take 'em out?" Gladio asked.

"Oh yea. Those scrapheaps will wish they had a peace treaty to protect them!"

I summoned a polearm and we all ran in to attack. After taking out of the robots I turned to see one with a large axe running towards me, ready to swing. I held out my hands to use my magic barrier, but nothing happened.

"Wha-" I looked down at my hands and then tried again and again to use my magic. Nothing, "My magic. It's not working!" The soldier was in front of me now, lifting up its weapon to bring it down on my head. I flinched and waited for impact. Then Gladio swung his greatsword at the robot to save me. That had been the last one for now.

"What do you mean your magic isn't working?" Gladio asked.

"I-I don't know. I tried to use a barrier, but it wouldn't work." I began trying to use my magic again. I tried fire spells, healing spells, barriers, but nothing worked.

"Could it be the King-" Ignis started. There were tears in my eyes from the frustration and sadness overwhelming me.

"No!" I yelled. Ignis looked taken aback by my outburst, "I refuse to believe the King is dead!" I don't care if it makes sense. The King is still alive in my heart.

Gladio sighed, "Look, Y/N-"

"Move," I growled before summoning a shuriken. I threw the metal star in the air behind me as the boys quickly stood back to avoid it. I waited for the blue light to envelope me, but my weapon just kept moving. I let my hand fall to my side when I realized I wouldn't warp, "You're kidding..." I grab the shuriken when it came back and unsummoned it.

"Y/N..." Gladio started.

I quickly turned to continue, "Let's just go..."

We continued onward until another group of MTs try to stop us in a small and skinny canyon. I wasn't in the mood to deal with this. When an axe man takes a swing at me I quickly duck under one of its arms and summon my polearm. I push the long handle of my weapon against it's robotic throat and snapped the metal connecting its head to its neck. I unsummon the polearm and quickly turn around when I hear another imperial stalk towards me. He holds his axe up but I grab its wrist and knee it in the stomach. It doesn't do too much damage, but I see small sparks fly and the robot seems to be malfunctioning. I grab the robot by the shoulders and throw it against one of the rock walls next to me. Small pieces of metal fly off of it, and once it hits the ground it doesn't stand up. Before I can do anything else I feel a stinging pain burn my face just below my left eye. This fuels my anger. I look to see an imperial sniper standing not too far from me. I summon a shield just before it fires another shot and sprint towards it. I use the shield to push the robot to the ground. I then get on top of the robot and slam the slightly pointed bottom of the shield into it's robotic neck, severing it's wires. 

I stand up and unsummon the weapon. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around, "Take it easy," Gladio says sounding slightly frustrated.

"Yea. You mad, Y/N?" Prompto asks.

I glare at all of them, "Yea, I'm pretty pissed." Prompto and Noct look slightly fearful of me.

Once we reached a vantage point over looking Insomnia we could see small clouds of smoke just barely disappearing from last night's attack. We all stared in disbelief as Prompto pulled up a radio broadcast on his phone. The news pronounced King Regis, Lady Lunafreya, and Prince Noctis dead. Noct then pulled out his phone to call Cor, the best in the Crownsguard.

"H-Hello? Cor?"

"..."

"The hell's going on?" He said trembling.

"..."

"Outside the city. With no way back in."

"..."

"Makes sense?" Noct clenched his fist and began yelling, "Are you serious? What about any of this makes sense?! The news just told me I'm dead! Along with my father and Luna!"

"..."

Noctis scoffed.

"..."

He now looked back at the city in shock. He looked like he was choking.

"..."

There was a long silence. All of us were watching him now, "Right." Noct hung up the phone and stared at his beloved city. When the silence became unbearable Ignis spoke.

"What did the marshal... have to say?"

Noct tried to force the words to come out, "Said he'd be in Hammerhead," Then Gladio asked the question that I have been asking myself this whole time. A question I knew Cor would have an answer to.

"And the King?"

Noctis's never ending silence answered our question.


	6. Chapter 6

There is a legend that a magic Crystal was brought down to the Lucian family by a star. One day our star would be shrouded in darkness and the one True King, anointed by the Crystal, would need to obtain the power of king's past, the stone of the Six, and the Ring of the Lucii in order to banish the darkness. The King would be more powerful than any god and he would have the power to bring peace to Eos. Noctis was anointed as the one True King when he was young. Now Niflheim wanted to steal and use the power of the Crystal themselves, and that's exactly what they did. However, the ring had yet to be found.

It had been a long day. We met some of the Crownsguard who survived the attack, found out Gladio's sister was alive and headed to safety, and we searched two royal tombs so that Noctis could obtain the power of his forebearers. Afterwards, Cor informed us that Niflheim blockaded the only way to Duscae, which would keep us from finding the rest of the royal tombs. It was too late in the night to deal with it now, so we found a haven and set up camp. Three of the boys sat around the fire in silence, sorrow, and anger while Ignis read his notebook. As he began taking out ingredients I decided to finally speak for the first time since this morning.

"Don't make any for me. I'm not hungry." He said nothing, only looked at me. His expression was hard to read.

I walked to the farthest edge of the haven and sat down, watching a group of Sabertusks playing in the far distance. Maybe if I went in completely unprepared this would all be over. I wonder, would the others even come save me if I did that right now? Or would they leave me to die. I had nothing left. No family. No King. No home. No nothing. I didn't have the power of Kings to help me fight anymore. I sat there limply, now just staring into empty space. My eyes burned with tears. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I held in a breath to keep quiet as tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn't want the others to hear me. The salty water streaming down my face being dried by the cold breeze caused my face to feel like it was on fire. Every so often a quiet sob escaped my lips and my shoulders would shake violently.

"Hey, Y/N" I heard Gladio call out and walk towards me. I immediately hid my tears from him, but after crying and feeling hopeless for what felt like hours, it felt nearly impossible, "C'mon. We're all going to bed so-" he stopped.

I waited for a moment before taking in a deep breath, "Just go without me," I demanded harshly, but I could feel my lips trembling. I didn't want to deal with him making fun of me for being weak just because I'm crying.

I had expected him to just leave. A seducer like him wouldn't waste one second on some worthless Glaive like me. However, instead of the sounds of fading footsteps, I hear him sit down next to me, "You wanna talk about it?" I shook my head immediately and continued to hold in my tears, "It can't be good for you to hold it all in like that, y'know." I looked into the distance to find that the Sabertusks had gone to sleep. We were silent for a long time. I had hoped that maybe he'd get frustrated and leave, but he stayed by my side.

Finally, I sighed in annoyance and gave in, "I have nothing left. Nothing left to fight for."

Normally, I'd feel awkward telling someone this but for a split second I felt comfortable, and he seemed understanding. Must be some kind of connection between two soldiers. Finally, he sighs and leans forward a bit to look at my face, "Yea, we've all lost a lot today, but we can't give up. We'll make 'em pay for what they did." It was a nice thing to hear, but I still felt pretty hopeless. How are five people supposed to take out an empire alone? And then... there was another problem...

"When you say we..."

"I don't know about the others, but I don't blame you for not telling us," I finally turned to look at him now. He seemed embarrassed for some reason, like he had just realized how deep he was acting. He crossed his arms and turned his gaze away, "I mean you were just trying to keep Noct safe. And you only did what King Regis told you. I admire that," I was taken aback by this. I didn't think he could feel anything other than anger and lust...

"I'm glad you feel that way," I whispered.

"Of course. It's what any good soldier would do." He answered simply.

Now, I just had to know...,"Why are you being so nice to me?"

He pondered this for a moment, "Well," he started, "you're a part of our group now. Kinda hard not to be nice to someone you'll be spending all your time with." I looked at him carefully. His eyes shined in the moonlight. He stared back for a few seconds and then quickly looked away. He stared up at the moon before continuing, "I'll stay here till you're ready to sleep. Got a big day tomorrow,"

My gaze fell to the ground between us. We were a bit far from each other, only close enough to hear the other talk, "You sure you guys really need me?" I asked, "I've lost my powers, and I've seen you fight. You guys don't need me."

"Don't be hard on yourself," he sounded a bit angry. I couldn't tell if he was annoyed by my whining, or if he truly saw more in me than I saw in myself. Maybe it was both.

He scoffed when I didn't respond, "You really think you weren't a total bad ass today?"

I looked up, feeling a bit shocked, "You thought I was a bad ass?"

He looked at me, "Well, yea. You chopped off a robots head with a shield!"

I chuckled, "Yea, I guess that was pretty bad ass,"

He smiled back at me and ruffled my hair, "You ready for bed yet, sweetheart?"

I pushed his hand away and grumbled, "You know, you can be a real ass sometimes,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We found Monica, another servant of the Crownsguard, hidden in a small rock crevice not far from the stronghold blocking the road to Duscae. She has us split into two groups. Noct will join Cor to take out the Imperials inside, while the rest of us distract the enemy on the outside. As we head towards the entrance Gladio stops me.

"You sure you're alright?" He asked. I smiled confidently.

"Just you wait, Amicitia. I'm gonna be a bad ass again today." he chuckled.

"Don't push yourself, babe" I turned red. At this point I couldn't tell if I was embarrassed or angry.

"I told you not to call me that!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once we see the guards in front of the gate I let them all in on my plan.

"Alright, Ignis. Prompto. I need you to one shot as many of the MTs as you can. You only have one chance at this. When they start getting close I need Gladio to smack them down with his sword. After that we give it all we got." They all nodded in unison and the plan begins.

Ignis and Prompto get at least four guards down, all of which were shooters. Once all the axe man got close Gladio stunned them all with a killer blow. After that they were down in mere seconds.

Once were done the gate opened. We could see Noct and Cor emerge from the other side.

"Alright on your end?" Noct asked.

"Right as rain," Gladio responded, "The Niffs couldn't take their eyes off us."

"Well, well. If it isn't Cor the immortal!" We looked to see a Magitek engine lowering down in front of us. A loud voice speaks over a microphone.

"So, you survived the Citadel. But you won't survive what I have in stored for you. Its long past time your legend came to an end." The engine opened to reveal a huge machine. It stood up and stepped out onto the ground with us.

"Uh, got any ideas?" Prompto asked nervously.

"Try not to die," I responded.

The machine began firing shots at us. We all spit up to find cover. Gladio and I ducked behind a large rock nearby.

"How are we supposed to defeat that thing?" He yelled over the shots.

"How should I know?" I yelled back.

"You're the super smart Glaive, remember? Think of something!" This angered me. Do you believe in my skill or not, Gladio?

When the firing stopped I looked up slightly to observe our enemy. I start whispering the plan now, "Its legs look skinny and weak. We could have the others distract it, then you run in and knock it down with a sweep attack at its legs."

"After that?" He asked.

"We hope for the best." I pulled out my phone while still keeping an eye on the giant robot. I call Ignis and hope to God his phone doesn't make a sound.

"Y/N," he whispers. I inform him of the plan and after hanging up the phone I see one if his daggers fly at the machine. It turns in his direct and prepares to fire.

"Now!" I yell.

"Got it!" Gladio runs in and sweeps the robot off its feet. After that we all run in and hit it as hard as we can. Eventually, we hear the man from before shouting in defeat as oil pools at our feet.

"Run! She's gonna blow!" I yell. We all run towards the gate. Once it explodes it knocks all of us on our feet. Luckily, we didn't take too much damage. Now with the road block gone, we may continue our journey and avenge our home and our people.


	7. Chapter 7

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I awoke to probably the worse noise ever created. An alarm. I laid there on the cold hard ground with my eyes still closed, not wanting to get up yet. After a few seconds I heard someone place something by my head and the noise grew louder than before. Finally, I groaned and sat up in defeat. Ignis had placed his phone by my head to wake me up. My back was killing me from sleeping on the ground. In Eos people camp on large flat rocks. Whose idea was it to do that?

Ignis seems to be uncomfortable and frustrated as well. His dirty blonde hair is slightly messy and his eyes look very sleepy. Instead of saying "good morning" he just nods. I nod back. Prompto tossed and turned but eventually sat up as well. He stretched and then began running his fingers through his hair. It wasn't long until Gladio woke up next to me too. I don't know why, but I decided to start sleeping next to him. I guess sleeping next to Iggy felt weird to me.

He pulls himself up as if he were doing sit ups. He looks the most annoyed out of all of us, like he wants break Ignis' phone. After a while he broke the silence.

"If only someone hadn't wrecked the car," he scoffs, "Unbelievable," Prompto looks unamused by this comment.

"Oh, I would hate to be that guy," his expression was then replaced by guilt as he slumped his shoulders. He sounded very sad, "Aw, don't be that way. You know I didn't mean to do it."

I rolled my eyes. Prompto had begged Ignis to let him drive and ended up crashing not far from an outpost in Duscae. That's why all of us were so annoyed. We ended up having to call Cindy out here to fix it nearby. Although we did have a bit of money we didn't have enough to pay Cindy, so we had to make camp instead of staying in a hotel.

"Of course not," Ignis responds to Prompto's plea, "Sabotage is far beyond you," Ignis said sarcastically and coldly to shut him up. Prompto made a face like he had said something stupid and risky. We all looked at Noct who was still sound asleep at our feet. Ignis attempted to wake him like he had with the rest of us, but Noct simply turned to his side, facing away from all of us.

"It's futile," Ignis sighed as he shut the alarm off.

Gladio tried to nudge him gently and lightly smacked Noct's face, "Rise and shine, Princess." I was feeling quite annoyed that we had to do this almost every morning. Especially after some of the crap we've had to go through lately.

"Ugh!" I yelled. I lightly pushed Gladio out of my way as I exited the tent, "Move. I'll wake him up myself," I grabbed Noct's feet and tried to drag him out as best as I could. He quickly kicked my hands and got out on his own. He looked extremely angry and held one hand to his back. The hard ground must have scratched him up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He yelled. His eyes were still glued shut and he swung at the air trying to hit me. I backed up as the others crawled out laughing hysterical.

"Well quit being so difficult and I won't have to drag you out of bed!" I yelled back, "next time you'll be waking up soaking wet after I pour ice water on you!"

"Now I would love to see that," Gladio laughed.

"Shut up," Noct said in defeat.

Ignis looked up at the sky, shielding the light of the sun from his eyes with his hand, "Good day for walking," he said in an unusually happy voice. At least it was unusual for him, "Aren't we lucky?"

We began walking through the wetlands of Duscae in search of game. The bill for fixing the car was ridiculously high, and we didn't have much money. So, we've had to go hunting to make up the cash.

We had heard from a local tipster that there has been a behemoth, named Deadeye, wandering around causing trouble. The bounty was definitely high enough to pay off Cindy, but the fight would be a challenging one. There was a chance we could get killed, but without the Regalia we were as good as dead anyway. Well, even if the car hadn't broken down, we would probably still be doing this, since killing Deadeye would allow the Chocobo Post to let people ride the giant yellow birds once again. And Prompto seems to be in love with Chocobos.

The tipster had mentioned that hunters who managed to escape from the behemoth with their lives reported that Deadeye lived in a large den surrounded by rocks. We fought many creatures on the way to the location. Maybe we could get extra spending money and ingredients for Ignis's dishes.

As we wondered around, Gladio stuck my side and made small talk. He had been acting pretty strange. At first he seemed like a sex addict or something, now it's more like we're close friends. However, he does sneak in the occasional flirty comments here and there. Maybe he was hoping to get in my pants and decided to give up.

I learned many things about him as our friendship grew. Most of it was about his family and memories he shared with other people, but he would never talk about himself personally. He never talked about emotions and he would only be either happy or angry. I wondered if this was just who he was, or if he was hiding something.

As we got closer to the location on our map, we found some clues to lead us the rest of the way. We found many giant foot prints in the mud, and there were trails of splattered blood and debris from broken trees, rocks, and any other objects that were unfortunate enough to be in the way.

"Uh," Prompto starts anxiously, "m-maybe we should just raise the money some other way."

"Wuss," Gladio responded as he continued to follow the tracks.

"Don't you see what this thing has done?!" He yelled. Gladio scoffed and continued to walk away.

"Oh, we are so screwed," Prompto said sadly. The farther we went the more nervous I felt. If I still had my powers I'd probably feel much more confident, but right now I felt like our chances of surviving were slim.

"Y/N," I had been staring down at my feet nervously. Gladio's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see him walking along side me. He kept a fair bit of distance from me. He read my nervous expression and smiled, "Don't worry, you got this." I smiled back at him and nodded.

Suddenly, we heard a loud crash and the ground rumbled beneath our feet. We all looked around in a panic and then saw a few tall trees collapse in the distance. Little did we realize that we were standing outside a large rock formation. This must be the behemoths den. Noct tried to walk ahead, but I grab him by the collar and pull him back.

"Hey!" I quickly give him a harsh glance and place a finger over my mouth, "what's the big idea?" He whispers.

"There's a good chance one of us could die here," I explained, "better it be one of us than you, Future King."

I heard Gladio smirk before trying to get in front of me, "No need to be so tough,"

Enough of this!

I roughly smack my hand against his bare chest. His muscles felt good in my hands. I pushed this thought out of my mind and forced out a serious tone, "Look, I trained all my life to protect the King," I lightly push him away, not hard enough to anger him but enough to get my point across, "So, let me do my job, alright," He gives me a very serious look. I can't read his expression at all. Finally, he nods.

We all carefully and quietly move through the area in front of Noct. Everything had been completely destroyed. Eventually we reached a blocked off area with a small space just big enough to crawl through. We could hear Deadeye was just on the other side of this blockade. As I begin to step inside, someone grabs my shoulder and pulls me back hard.

What the hell?

I turn around and find Gladio standing in front of me, "I'll go first," he whispered and crawled through the space. I glare at him before following behind. Next was Ignis, Prompto, and then Noct.

We slowly crawled through until Gladio suddenly turned around and held out a hand, signaling us to stop. The crawl space had many openings along the side and top. We could see the huge beast through these openings. The behemoth had a scar over its right eye that forced it close. Gladio closes his eye, holds a finger over it and mouths, "Deadeye. The name says it all," After waiting a few more seconds the behemoth begins eating something right outside of the crawl space. With his head down, we might be able to get through without him noticing. Gladio then motions his hand for us the come forward. I could hear Prompto whimpering behind us. I wished I could kick him to shut him up.

Unexpectedly, Deadeye raises his head and turns in our direction. Gladio was just passing under a large opening, so he crawled quickly and turned around to stop us once he was covered again. Unexpectedly, Deadeye raises his head and turns in our direction. Gladio was just passing under a large opening, so he crawled quickly and turned around to stop us once he was covered again. The beast shoved his nose through the opening. It roared, growled, and sniffed around the opening. It's disgusting breath that filled the space reeked of blood. I closed my eyes tightly and held my breath, wanting to turn back. The structure we were in was very fragile, so at any moment this thing could step on the structure and kill us all.

Soon Deadeye lifted his head and walked away. I let out a deep breath and we continue through the rest of the crawl space. When we reach the end Gladio helps me out and mouths, "Are you okay?" I nod slightly, my breath very shaky. We begin following the beast. Ignis tells us we need to follow it to its main home and then he will devise a plan.

Eventually we reached what looked like a building, long ruined. Deadeye then perched up a rock structure and fell asleep. We all hid behind some building blocks as Ignis walked us through the plan. Noct will wake the behemoth and lead it towards the rest of us. He'll warp out of danger before Deadeye gets too close. Gladio will then come out from behind and attack the beast by surprise. While its stunned Prompto will shoot a gas tank nearby causing an explosion. Noct will then finish it off with a warp strike.

"What about me?" I whispered.

"You'll stay up here with me. I would let you lure the enemy if you still had your powers, but-"

I interrupt him, "It's fine... Let's just get it over with,"

We set the plan in motion and all goes well. After Prompto shot the gas tank Noct stabbed his blade into the beasts back and it fell limp. We all ran up to him cheering, until the behemoth awoke and threw Noct off its back.

"Your Highness!" Ignis yells as we all run to his side. He is sprawled out on the ground in pain. As Ignis helps him up the monster charges. Prompto screams and the rest of the boys freeze for a moment. I quickly take out a greatsword and swing at Deadeyes face as hard as I can. I manage to break off one of its horns. We all get ready to fight this thing the hard way. Luckily, it doesn't take long since we had already roughed it up pretty good.

After finishing it off Prompto, Gladio, and Noct cheer and start harvesting from the huge animal. I bend down and place my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. Ignis picks up the behemoth horn I had broken off and inspects it.

"You truly are a tough and fearless woman." He said. I stood up straight and placed my arms behind my head.

"Thanks," I panted. At least someone thought so.

After harvesting some parts to sell and cook we left the den and headed for the Chocobo Post. We wanted to let the owner, Wiz, know that it was safe for the giant birds once again. To thank us, he let us ride some Chocobos back to Cindy for free. We received our reward for the bounty and sold some monster parts to a shop owner nearby. When we payed Cindy the money I noticed something.

All of the guys looked like they were about to drool and they stole glances at the busty engineer's body, especially a certain shield. He wasn't as straight forward with her as he had been with me. But he did seem interested enough that it upset me. Was he giving up on me... to be with her? I tried to brush it off. What did I care? It's not like I want to be with a guy like him... right?


	8. Chapter 8

We had just arrived in Lestallum to meet with Gladio's little sister, Iris. As I was about to enter the Leville, where she was waiting, I felt a gloved hand land on my shoulder. All though it was light and careful, the touch made me jump slightly. I turned to find that the hand belonged to Ignis. The others stopped so we could all hear what he had to say.

"Y/N, may I speak with you for a moment?" He asked politely.

I looked back and forth between the guys and Ignis before answering, "Uh... Sure," The others walked inside without question as Ignis and I headed towards the huge square fountain nearby. Did I do something wrong? I walked towards him and he began talking as I sat at the edge of the calming water pool.

"My apologies if this is a bit forward, but may I ask what's going on between you and Gladio?" I could feel him staring down at me. It wasn't his usual stone cold stare though. It was more caring, like a mother.

"What do you mean?" I answered slightly uneasy.

"I'm just wondering if you two... Ah... how shall I put this?" I shot out of my seat, realizing what he was implying.

"What?! No! Not in a million years!"

He chuckled lightly and sighed, "Really? I suppose that's too bad. For Gladio, of course."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean Gladio seems quite smitten with you," he answered.

I put a hand on my hip and raised an eyebrow, "I think you've lost it, Iggy," I say bluntly, "That womanizer doesn't like me in the slightest."

He laughed again, "I won't argue that Gladio has... limited control over his hormones, however, he treats you differently now,"

For some reason, this makes me feel somewhat hopeful, yet skeptical, "What are you talking about? He treats me like a friend."

"Exactly. In all the years I've known him he has been very... physical with many girls, but has never actually fallen for them,"

I roll my eyes, "You're point?"

He sighed, "My point is that he talks to you the same way he talks to any girl, but he hasn't laid a hand on you since... that day." I knew what day he was referring to. That day that we all wanted to forget about.

I shook my head to get it out of my mind, "What makes you think he likes me because of that?"

He paused to gather his thoughts for a moment, "He respects you. At first he may have been a bit handsy, but now he treats you respectfully. Well, as respectfully as he can."

I laughed. Our idea of respect was way different to the rest of the guys, "Well, even if he does like me, it's not gonna happen," I said bluntly.

"May I ask why?" He asked with skepticism.

I thought for a moment then sighed, "How would I ever be able to trust a guy like that? Besides it's clear that all he cares about is sex. It just wouldn't work," I look down at our feet and cross my arms. I don't know why I sounded and felt so upset. Maybe it just hurt being seen as a sex object.

He sighed, "I understand," we were silent for a moment until he placed a hand on my shoulder, partly as comfort, and partly to snap me out of my thoughts, "Let's not keep the others waiting," After he let go and walked ahead of me I sighed. I need to get a hold of myself before facing all of them.

When I got inside the hotel I found the guys talking to a short, cute girl. I assumed she was Gladio's sister. She was smiling brightly as she talked to Noct and then looked at me in confusion as I walked up to them, "Gladdy, do you guys know her?" I held back a laugh. Oh, I was so using that against him.

"Gladdy, huh?" I teased.

He glares at me and sighs, "This is Y/N. She's a Glaive and new retainer for Noct." he introduced. 

"Oh, well in that case, it's good to meet you, Y/N! I'm Gladdy's sister, Iris," she shook my hand with both of here's and smiled.

I smiled back, "I didn't know you had such a nice sister, Gladdy," Iris laughed and Gladio just looked like he was trying not to strangle me.

The boys buy the two rooms while Gladio introduces us all to their family butler, Jared, and his grandson, Talcott. We all group up in the boys' room, where Iris informs us that while the city took a real beating there were many survivors. This also included Lunafreya. Noct looked like he was feeling much better now that he knew his beloved was safe. It was as if all the stress had been lifted off his shoulders. It was already getting late by the time we reached Lestallum, so Iris and I headed for bed after talking with the boys for just a few more minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I awoke early the next morning from the rays of the sun hitting my face. I had nothing to do, so I got ready and walked downstairs to the lobby. I found everyone awake except Noct.

"Why, good morning Y/N," Ignis greeted. I was still to groggy to give a proper good morning so I gave a small wave while trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Why don't we all check out the town!" Prompto suggested excitedly, "I want to take as many photos as I can."

I yawned and stretched my arms up high, "You sure are an avid photographer, Prompto."

We all began exiting the hotel until Gladio stepped in front of me.

"Why don't we hang in two groups?" He offered, "Ignis and Prompto. Me and Y/N." 

Ignis seemed to catch on, "Alright. Meet us back at the Leville in about an hour."

"Hour and half." Gladio argued. Ignis just nodded before leaving with Prompto, who seemed a bit confused.

"C'mon. Let's go to the square. They have some pretty good food there," Gladio suggested with a smile.

"Hold on," I said, "Why did you want to go in groups?"

He eyed me down, this time he did it so fast I question if he even noticed a thing, "I guess I just want the cute girl to myself," he walked out before I could respond.

We spent most of our time wandering around and trying samples at different food stands. Everything was delicious and I started to feel stuffed very quickly. I also made fun of Gladio a lot for the nickname his sister gave him. He seemed really unamused by it.

"Stop callin' me that, alright? It's embarrassing to hear that from anyone but my sister,"

"Aww, but it's so cute," I teased. No way I was gonna stop. This is payback for always messing with me. I did feel a little bad though. I hate to admit it, but Ignis was right about Gladio being a bit more respectful. He hadn't done anything straightforward since that day in Galdin. However, I hadn't payed him back for that, yet, so I was gonna enjoy this for as long as I could.

Suddenly, he snapped me out of my thoughts by placing a rough hand on my head, "No. Frickin'. Way," he quickly ran over to a food truck like a child and I just stared at him with confusion.

I walked towards him and see that it's a Cup Noodle truck. Gladio hands the man at the truck some gil as I walk up, "What? Is Cup Noodle your favorite, Gladdy?" He glared at me again, but smiled when the man brought a crap ton of cups, "Six! How many noodles do you need?"

"I love noodles. Cup Noodle is my life," he answered happily before thanking the man and walking back to the square.

"I think you may have an unhealthy obsession," I said. We headed back to the hotel to meet with the others, but before Gladio and I can get inside the hotel the other three boys are walking outside. I guess we were the last ones to get back.

"There you are," Noct says, "Talcott just told us about a royal tomb behind a nearby waterfall."

"Alright, let me just bring these back to our room," Gladio said as he held up the arm full of noodles, "You mind helpin' me, Y/N?" Ignis let's us know he'll drive the Regalia up to the main street in front of the square to wait for us before the three boys leave. I take half of the noodles from Gladio and we head upstairs to his room.

After we were done and left the room we started talking about random things. As we walk past Iris's room I get an idea, "Hey, where has your sister been, Gladdy?"

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, "I told you to stop calling me that,"

I laughed, "And what if I don't?" He grabbed on to my waist with one hand a little roughly and pushed me against the wall. He used his other arm to lean against the wall and stared down at me. I completely froze with fear and, admittedly, slight arousal. This hasn't happened in a while.

He chuckled at my reaction, "It's weird hearing such a hot girl like you call me that." He moved his hand from my waist to move a strand of hair behind my ear and cup my face. Our faces were only a few centimeters a part from each other as we locked eyes. We stayed like this for a while and for a moment I thought Ignis might have been telling the truth yesterday. That was until he pulled away and laughed it off like nothing had happen.

"C'mon. We shouldn't keep 'em waiting," as he walked away all I could do was stand there and stare at him. My heart was beating out of my chest like I was about to die.

Why, Gladio? Why are you doing this to me?


	9. Chapter 9

We looked behind the waterfall to find a small cave entrance. When we entered it was pitch black and everything was encased in ice.

Lestallum is a hot place, so when I left with Gladio I didn't take the jacket of my uniform. I didn't think I'd need it either when we came back. I hugged myself to keep warm as we crept inside.

"Well, maybe the cold keeps the daemons at bay," Prompto said in an attempt to brighten the mood.

"Yea. Cause daemons like warmth," Gladio responded sarcastically.

"Maybe they're frozen," I suggested.

Gladio leaned in close to me and spoke in a spooky voice, "They're waiting for something warm to pass by," I playfully pushed him away and almost immediately afterwards a group of Flan began oozing out of the ground.

"Aaaaaaaand there's our warm welcome," Prompto said.

Luckily, fighting helped me warm up slightly, but I knew after a while I'd probably freeze over. We continued walking and fighting through the cavern. Suddenly, the ground disappeared at my feet and I fell on a slide of ice. I screamed as I quickly slid down and could hear the others screaming my name. Soon I hit the ground hard and began gasping for air. As I tried hard to pull myself up I could hear the others land steadily on their feet next to me. I felt two strong hands grab me and lift me up. When I looked up it was Gladio looking pretty worried.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded and wrapped my arms around myself again. I was a lot colder now.

"Sh-sh-sh-should of g-g-grabbed my jacket," I said through chattering teeth. They all surrounded me to see if I was alright.

"Whoa, your starting to turn purple," Prompto gasped.

"Where's your jacket?" Noct asked. I tried to speak but was too cold to.

Then I heard Gladio scoff, "You should bring your jacket with you everywhere, dumby," when he finished my face was smothered in leather cloth. I pulled it down and saw Gladio standing before me shirtless.

"N-n-n-n...." I tried to hand back his jacket. There's no way he could last like that.

He pushed my hands away, "Just use it until we get out of here." He smiled smugly and brushed a hand through his hair before continuing, "Besides don't act like you haven't be hoping for this opportunity."

"Sh-sh-!"

He chuckled before turning around to continue, "Try not to hurt yourself, sweetheart,"

I grumbled as the others walked past me to follow Gladio. Begrudgingly, I threw the jacket around my shoulders and held it around me tightly as I followed. As we walked I buried my face into his coat. I enjoyed the smell of leather mixed with his cologne. I guess he's never had a woman resist him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After finding the royal tomb and exiting the cave we could see that the sun would be setting soon. Prompto and I hurried over to the Regalia but stopped when we heard Noctis grimacing in pain. I turned to see him holding his head and nearly falling to his knees. Prompto and I walked back to see if he was okay.

"You alright, buddy?" Prompto asked. After Noct looked more or less okay again he answered,

"I think I just had a vision.... The Meteor?"

Ignis put his hands to his hips, "You mean you saw the Disc of Cauthess?" Noct nodded, "Well, we'll worry about that later. Let's get back to Talcott.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Talcott was very happy to hear that we found the tomb. But once we for back Noct had another headache.

"We oughta take a look at this so called "Disc"." Gladio said.

"It's going to be late soon," Ignis warned, "And we used up most of our energy in that cave. Do you think you'll be okay for the rest of the night?"

Noct nodded, "Yea, I guess so."

We all went back to our hotel rooms, and I decided to take a hot shower to warm up. I could feel a burning water thawing me out as I tried to stay awake. After taking my shower I laid in bed just scrolling through social media on my phone. I had thought about going to the boys room, but felt to lazy to get up.

After scrolling for about an hour, I heard a knock at the door. I looked up at the door for a while, contemplating if I should answer it. When the knocking continued I grunted and finally stood up. I swung open the door and I saw Gladio standing there. A part of him looked nervous, but he mostly looked intimidating. Not like when he's in a fight, but like he was about to devour me.

I rolled my eyes, doing my best to look unfazed, "What do you want?"

He stepped closer to me and slammed the door shut behind him, never taking his eyes off me. I stepped back, feeling a bit nervous, but he continues to step closer.

"Y'know," he said in a dangerous and seductive voice, "you're really unfair."

"What are you talking about?" As I finished my sentence I felt my back touch the wall. I started to feel scared. I shouldn't be worried. He's just playing another one of his stupid games again... right?

He leaned against the wall with one arm above my head and looked deeply into my eyes, "Showing off that sexy body of yours and never giving me a chance to play. It's cruel."

I barred my teeth in anger and tried to push him away by his chest, "Get away from me, you creep!"

He chuckled and grabbed both my wrist and pinned them to the wall, "You don't have to act tough, baby girl. I know how badly you want this." I shut my eyes as tight as possible and held in my breath as he leaned in and started kissing my neck. His lips felt gentle on my skin. I could feel his lips were slightly parted. His breathing was hot and heavy, causing shivers down my spine. He pressed his body against mine and I gasp as I felt his member grind against me. He chuckled into my neck, "See what you're doing to me? Don't you want to help me fix it."

"N-no..." He smiled.

"Oh, really?" His hand traveled past my shoulder and down my arm. His fingers traced my skin lightly. It almost tickled. He moved his hand back up to my collar bone, around my breasts and down to my waist. He curled a finger around my belt line, pulling it lightly. I began breathing heavily as well, resisting the urge to whimper. He smiled devilishly, "I bet your just dripping with ecstasy right now."

"N-no I'm not-!" I tried to yell, but my voice fell into a whimper as he pressed his leg against my sweet spot, causing a small wave of pleasure to flow through me.

"Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I checked?" He played with the button of my pants as he said this.

I placed my hands over his and tried to push them away, "G-Gladio... Please,"

He laughed, "You're barely trying to push me away. I know your a lot stronger than that," He was right. I didn't want to admit it, but I was starting to tremble. I was on the edge of doing something stupid. I was unsure of what to say, feeling too weak to reject him, but also feeling too embarrassed to ask for more. "Are you gonna stop fighting, baby girl?" He pulled on my pants again which caused him to grind against me again. His member pressing against my warmth caused me to moan slightly.

"Yes, Gladio please..."

He smirked and tightened his grip around my waist, "Tell me you want me," My lip trembled. I couldn't bring myself to let the words out. His face grew more serious and he push against me harder, "Tell me you want me," he demanded.

I moaned louder in response, "I want you Gladio! Please give it to me!"

He smiled, "Of course, baby girl. I'll give you whatever you want,"


	10. Chapter 10

My vision grew dark and I could no longer feel Gladio against me. Once I was in complete darkness I felt like I was being shaken lightly.

"Y/N" I slowly opened my eyes and looked towards the soft yet rough voice. He stopped shaking me when he noticed my eyes beginning to flutter. When my eyes were fully open he smiled down at me.

"Sorry. Was I interrupting a good dream?" My face turned pink and my eye widened slightly as I realized what happened. I quickly shook the thought out of my mind and hoped he didn't find my reaction strange. I sat up in my bed and began rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. What in the world is wrong with me?!

I looked up from him and he just smiled and ruffled my hair, "Wake up, sweetheart. We got a lot of ground to cover," I pushed his hand away and grumbled in annoyance.

"Yea, yea..."

As I stood up from the bed he moved back slightly. I walked over to my stuff that I had thrown onto a chair when we got the room.

"Come over to our room when your done" he said before leaving. I picked up my clothes and headed towards the bathroom. I stopped in front of the door for a moment.

"Damn you, Gladio..." I whispered to myself before entering the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After I got out of the shower and got dressed I just stood there, glancing around the room before sitting at the foot of my messy bed. I buried my face into my hands. I couldn't stop over thinking everything, and I felt so confused. I knew I needed to protect the prince and help him complete his journey, but with these distracting emotions getting in the way doing that has become much harder. 

I let out a sigh and stood up. If I didn't head over to the boys' room soon they'd come in and wonder what's wrong with me. The last thing I need is any of them questioning my odd behavior. When I entered their room everyone was acting like their usual selves, except Gladio. He looked at me rather smug. He usually looked at me that way, but something about it was... off this time.

"Hey, Y/N!" Prompto greeted, "We were just about head to the outlook."

"I thought we were checking out the Disc," I asked.

"We're just gonna see if we can spot anything from there," Gladio answered. He looked like he was hiding something. Something that he could use against me. Finally, I shrugged and leaned my head toward the doors direction.

"Okay. Let's go,"

"Uh, Y/N." Prompto started.

"Yes?"

They all looked at my quizzically. All except Gladio. Finally, Noct finished, "You alright? You look a little freaked out."

My heart raced to come up with an answer, "Uh, yea! I'm fine. I just had a nightmare. That's all," They seemed satisfied with that answer.

"You sure it was a nightmare?" Gladio asked. We all looked at him confused.

"What else would it be?" Prompto asked.

Gladio held back a laugh, "Never mind. Let's go," he walked out ahead of us. We all gave each other a confused look.

"What's with him?" I asked.

"Who knows?" Noct answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we reached the outlook we saw a familiar, ominous figure peering through one of the view finders. The man we had met a Galdin Quay looked up to notice we were there.

"What a coincidence," he said.

A part of me felt like he had known we would be here. It was strange. It had been weeks since we were in Gladin. I never thought we'd see this man again. It would make sense for this to be a coincidence, but something about him made me think otherwise.

He stepped towards us and continued, "Aren't nursery rhymes curious things?" We all looked at him in confusion, "Like this one:

'From the deep, the Archaean calls.  
Yet on deaf ears, the gods' tongue falls,  
The King made to kneel, in pain, he crawls.' "

His rhyme sounded similar to the headaches that Noct has been having. How would he have known we came here for the Archaean? And how did he know about Noct's pain?

"So how do we keep him on his feet?" Prompto asked.

The man told us that we must visit the Archaean at the Disc and listen to what he has to say. He then offered to take us there. We all discussed to ourselves whether or not to take the offer. Finally, we chose to at least follow him by vehicle. He smiled impishly and began walking towards the parking lot behind us, "I'm not one to stand on ceremony, but such an occasion calls for an introduction. Please, call me 'Ardyn'."

When we reached the parking lot, we saw that Ardyn's red car was conveniently parked next to the Regalia. Strangely, he requested that Noct drive the Regalia. We didn't question it and did as he asked. I ended up sitting in between Gladio and Ignis. As we drove Gladio had kept asking me how I was doing. Was he planning something? Had he pranked me and was waiting for me to figure it out? After following Ardyn for a while he pulled into a nearby gas station. We stopped as well to see what he was doing.

"What say we call it a day here?" He asked.

Gladio scoffed, "'What say' we continue on to Cauthess?" All of the boys began arguing until finally we agreed to stay in a caravan as long as Ardyn took care of the bill. Everyone began piling into the caravan, and Gladio was about to be the last one in. I turned to look at my surroundings. It was all just forest around the gas station.

"Aren't you comin'? I turned to see Gladio standing on the small steps of the caravan.

"I was thinking of going for a walk," I don't know why, but I made a very strange choice, "would you like to come with me?"

He smiled, "Are you gonna be able to control yourself around me?" He teased.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh please. As if I'd lose control over you,"

He chuckled and walked up in front of me, "You sure about that, sweetheart?" I looked down when I felt his fingers playing around with my hand. It was like he was either teasing me or resisting the urge to hold me. I wasn't sure which. Probably the former.

I scoffed and turned towards the main road, "I'm positive. Can we go now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After our short walk down the main road and back Ignis had order us food from the food stands nearby. As we ate we listened to random tales that Ardyn shared without us asking him to. A part of us were very defensive around this creep, but we couldn't hide the slight interest that appeared on our faces as he spoke.

After that we all began piling into the caravan. Gladio and I remained seated until the others had gotten in.

I yawned and stretched my arms up high as I stood from one of the lawn chairs, "You sound exhausted," Gladio stated.

"Yea, I can't wait to pass out on the covers," I said sleepily with a smile.

He smirked and turned around to go inside. Before he did though he teased, "Just make sure not to have any wet dreams about me tonight. Don't want the others hearing that,"

My face burned red like a stop sign, "What the hell are you talking about you weirdo?!" I screamed.

He looked back at me and smiled, "You know you talk in your sleep, right?" Before I could even process what he had said, he stepped inside the caravan. I followed, screaming profanities at his back the whole way.


	11. Chapter 11

As we continued to follow Ardyn to the Meteor the next day, Ignis had given us another one of his mini history lessons. The Archaean, also known as Titan, is one of the Six gods. When the Meteor fell, Titan had caught it and has been holding it up ever since. Eventually, we arrived upon a metal gate. This gate was similar to the one that blocked Duscae. This must be the empires doing. Noct parked alongside Ardyn's car, so we could talk.

"Well, looks like we're not getting through," I said in disappointment.

"Don't give up so easily," Ardyn teased.

"Better not be a set up," Noct warned in an annoyed tone.

"Have I given you reason to doubt me?" He responded, seeming slightly offended. He then began yelling to whoever was behind the gate, "Hello! It's me! Be so kind as to open up!" The gate opened without a moment of hesitation. We all looked at him with suspicion. How could he have any authority over the empire? Who is he? He smirked, "I may not look like much, but I do have some influence."

"Yea," I started, "we see that."

He flashed another impish grin, "Your audience with divinity lies ahead,"

As Noct drove passed the gate Gladio spoke, "I've met some weirdos..."

"Hope we don't meet that one again," Ignis responded.

We drove down a long and dangerous path until we reached what appeared to be some old ruins. The space ahead was too small for the Regalia, so we decided to go the rest of the way on foot. 

"Damn it's hot," I whined as I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"Take your shirt off then," Gladio teased. I responded by smacking him as hard as I could on his shoulder.

"Shut up, pervert!" He just laughed as Noct scolded us.

"Would you two quit flirting so we can get out of here? Keep it in your pants till we get back to the hotel." He turned to walk down the rest of the path.

"As if!" I yelled.

Gladio and I followed the others, whispering to each other.

"Did I embarrass you, sweetheart?"

I glared at him out of my peripherals, "Whatever you think is between us you might as well forget it,"

"Oh, I know what's between us, and I'm never gonna forget about it. Your totally into me," he teased. It was like he had stung an already open wound.

Why didn't he say, "we like each other"?

"I'd never fall for someone like you!" I spat out the words like venom in my mouth. I wanted to hurt him back for everything he's done.

He smirked, "I'm afraid you already have, baby girl," The name ran chills down my spine. First you single me out and now you call me that? Just what kind of game are you playing?! It wasn't long until we reached a dead end. However, there was another royal grave here.

"Is that what I think it is?" Prompto asked.

"Didn't expect to find a royal tomb here." Ignis answered.

Noct headed for the weapon in the tomb, "Let's just grab it and go,"

After obtaining the power of his ancestors, the ground began to rumble. We all stumbled to our feet and started to panic.

"Get away! Quickly!" Ignis yelled. It was too late though. The ground beneath us was collapsing, and Noct and Gladio had fallen below. I had almost screamed his name when he fell. Luckily, I was in too much shocked to use my voice.

Ignis, Prompto, and I leaned over the edge to find the two boys painfully trying to stand. Suddenly, the Meteor began to move. I gasped in disbelief as the huge rock lifted and a head appeared from underneath.

Titan.

After standing straight up, still holding the Meteor, he spoke. His words were loud and foreign and each word that left his lips sounded like a laugh.

"That's the Archaean!" Prompto yelled.

I smacked him, "For once just calm down and stop freaking out!" I said through barred teeth, "Guys! Are you okay?" I yelled.

"Yea," Noct responded.

"Thank heavens you're safe," Ignis sighed, "Is there a way back up?"

"No, but there's a path,"

"You three find a way down," Gladio said.

We headed back the way we came, looking for a way down.

"We may have to climb down," Ignis said, mostly to himself. I looked down below for a safe spot.

"Looks risky, but I don't see a better way," I responded.

"I'll go first," Ignis began carefully climbing down. It took a while since he was trying not to lose his footing. Prompto and I followed and soon we managed to make it down.

"I'm dying of heat," Prompto whined.

I whipped the sweat from my forehead with my arm, "No kidding,"

"Careful. This whole place is on fire," We looked onward at the path ahead to see Ignis was right. There were burning flames everywhere. We tried to walk carefully and stopped when the ground rumbled once more. We looked at Titan and saw him reaching out towards his side. It looked like he was trying to grab something.

"Oh no," I whispered.

"We must hurry!" Ignis began running through the path. I few flames caught him, but he managed to snake through.

"Ignis! Be careful!" I called out. Prompto and I ran a bit more carefully down the path. Ignis had disappeared from view already. Eventually, we caught up to see Ignis just standing around. He was looking up at the sky.

"What's up, Iggy?" Prompto asked tracking his gaze. I looked up too, but there was nothing there.

"Ign-"

"Quiet!" He held out a hand to shut us up. We listened carefully. There was a slight humming sound. It sounded a lot like an engine. Soon, a Magitek engine came into view. First it was one, then two, then four. In a panic Ignis pulled out his phone. After dialing in a number he held the device to his ear and waited.

"..." I could faintly hear Noct's voice.

"You're safe. Good. Listen, imperial troops are near-" he paused, "Blast! The line went dead!" He yelled.

"Come on. Let's just find them before the empire does," I said as I placed a hand in his shoulder.

"Ugh. This just gets better and better, huh?" Prompto complained.

"Prompto," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "Complain one more time and I'm going to have to punch you,"

"Ha! I'm not afraid of a girl," I quickly turned and aimed my fist for his face. As soon as he flinched and raised his hands in self-defense I stopped.

"Yea, that's what I thought." I turned around and continued on the path.

We continued for a while. Maybe 30 minutes. An hour. The ground kept on rumbling and at random times we could hear Titan talking. Eventually, we found Gladio, lying on the ground and badly wounded. Ignis helped him up while Prompto healed him with a potion. I had wanted to run to him too, but resisted the urge and tried to remain focused on my job.

"Where's Noct?" I asked.

"Don't know," he grimaced in pain, "Titan separated us."

"Lets hurry! He can't be far," Prompto said as ran down the path. It wasn't long until we found Noct trying to block Titan's hand from squishing him like a bug.

"Noct!" We all yelled as we sprinted to his side. We did our best to bring the giant down, but he hit us hard. However, it wasn't long before we managed to stun him. As a last resort, we began throwing as many ice flasks as possible to end this fight once and for all. Once his hand froze over, Noct swung his sword as hard as he could and managed to break the appendage clean off.

"Is it over now?" Prompto asked. Before we could answer, the Archaean looked like he was winding up for a big hit.

We saw both him and Noct being enveloped in yellow sparkles. Then Noct kneeled down in pain as he started having another headache.

"That was... Luna. You spoke with her?" He whispered. We could see that Titan was disappearing now, so we ran as fast as we could, not wanting to be flattened by the Meteor. As soon as the rock fell geysers of lava were spewing out around us and a Magitek engine was lowering itself down in front of us.

"The empire? Now?" Ignis yelled over the loud engine while shielding his eyes. The engine opened and all we could see was Ardyn.

"Fancy meeting you here!" he called out. That bastard. It was a trap. He showed us that infamous, evil smile, "It occurs to me I never formally introduced myself. Izunia. Ardyn Izunia."

We all recognized that name. It was no secret that Izunia was the name of the Imperial Chancellor. He then offered to help us get out of the Disc. Every fiber of our being was screaming no, but if we didn't leave soon, we'd die buried under rubble.

"Dying here is not an option. We have no choice, Noct." Ignis explained.

"I know," Noct responded. He sounded upset about receiving help from the empire. As we boarded the engine I couldn't help but wonder if this idea was any better. The empire clearly wants Noct dead. If we were to go with them would they execute us all? Would they make the four of us watch as they killed Noct before our eyes? I kept my guard up ready to sacrifice myself at any moment if they even tried to lay a hand on the Prince.


	12. Chapter 12

"I still can't believe it. I mean, shouldn't the car have turned up by now?" Prompto asked. We stood outside the caravan at the Chocobo Post. It had been days since our run in with the Archaean. The empire let us go, but the Regalia had been stolen. We had asked Cindy to help locate the car for us, but she had not gotten back to us.

"Obviously the empire has," I said, rather annoyed by the situation, "Either that or the Archaean destroyed it." We began discussing how we would get around without the Regalia when Prompto interrupted us suddenly.

"Look, its Umbra," we turned to find a beautiful black dog looking up at us. Umbra is one of Lady Lunafreya's messenger dogs. Noct started walking towards him until the dog sprinted into the woods barking.

"Let's follow him!" Noct said running after Umbra. The four of us hesitated for a second before doing as he said. We didn't get far before losing the adorable animal in the woods surrounding the outpost. Noct looked around for the dog and stopped when he saw a gorgeous woman with her eyes sealed shut standing before him.

"Gentiana..." There was something about this woman that felt inhuman.

She began whispering to us in rhythmic speech. She explained that Luna had been awakening the Six so that Noct can obtain their power and the Stone of the Six. The stone is one of the objects he needed to become the one True King and purge the darkness from our star. She then told us that Lady Lunafreya has awakened the Stormsender, Ramuh, the next God Noctis needed to speak to. Then we would need to head to Altissia where Luna would be waiting to awaken the Hydrean, Leviathan. After that she disappeared before our eyes.

"She's a Messenger, a spirit faithful to the Oracle," Ignis explained.

Umbra came out from behind a tree then and had a notebook tied to his back. Noct quickly grabbed the book and flipped through the pages. After landing on a page he read it and looked both relieved and distraught.

After writing something down and retying the book to Umbra's back we discussed what to do next. We decided we would obtain Ramuh's blessing and then ride a boat from Cape Caem to Altissia. We also planned on getting the Regalia back, but we'd have to wait for Cindy to find it.

Gentiana began speaking to Noct just like Titan had and told him where we would need to go to in order to receive the Stormsender's blessing. We walked back to the post to rent some chocobos. Before heading out all of Duscae was in a total down pour.

"Think the 'Stormsender' is up to this?" Gladio asked as he held out a hand, catching the water droplets as they fell from the sky.

"Probably," I answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
We managed to find a runestone at two different locations. Noct managed to absorb Ramuh's power from each stone, and now it was time to find the last one in some hidden hallow.

The hallow had been just like all the other caves we explored for the royal arms, but of course it was more dangerous. Hours after entering the hallow we heard Prompto scream.

"Prompto?" We all called out nervously. It was quiet at first, but soon we heard him crying for help.

"Why did it have to be a snake!" He yelled. We ran around the cave trying to follow his voice. Eventually, we found him with a giant snake wrapped around him. The creature had a Medusa like head and a snake body. Prompto managed to wiggle free from its grasp when he saw us. He ran toward us and coward behind Noct in fear.

"Do something, Noct!"

"Where's my baby," the monster asked in a demonic voice. We had no idea what she was talking about.

"I know where," Noct blurted out.

The creature paused, "That would mean YOU took him!" She screamed.

She began circling around us, ready to grab and strangle us all. We all drew out our weapons ready to strike. We began trying to slice off parts of her snaky body until she finally collapsed.

"Bring back... My baby," she whispered.

We gasped for breath, "What was she talking about," Ignis asked.

"Beats me," Noct answered.

"Somethin' about her baby," Gladio answered.

"Wait," I said, "Did that thing think Prompto was her baby?" The horror on his face was priceless.

We continued onward for the runestone there was a hole above it that allowed moonlight to shine through. After absorbing Ramuh's power Noct turned around. His eyes were glowing a reddish pink color. It was actually kind of freaky.

We stopped and waited for Ramuh to appear, but he never did.

Gladio crossed his arms, "Huh, guess some gods are friendlier than others,"

We left the hallow as fast as possible and found that it had stopped raining. As we were enjoying the sunshine, however, a huge airship flew over us and Noct received a call on his phone.

"Yea,"

"..." I could faintly make out Cindy's voice.

"Yea,"

"..."

"Ugh," Great. That's the response we wanted to hear.

"..."

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out,"

"..."

"Yea, thanks for the heads up. Later." He hung up and we were all at the edge of our seats.

"Weeeeeell?" I asked.

"The Regalia's at an Imperial base," he answered. The four of us let out a disappointed sigh.

"Alright," Ignis stepped up, "When do we retrieve her?"

"I'd say now," Noct said, placing his hands on his hips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
That night we stayed at a haven close to the imperial base. We all day around the fire watching Ignis pace around as he thought of a plan.

"This is nothing more than conjecture," he finally started, "but I suspect that ship came to transport the Regalia back to Niflheim,"

"Well then, let's run in and ride off," Noct suggested, as though the plan was obvious.

"A frontal assault would leave us exposed," Ignis stated plainly as he continued pacing.

Noctis slumped back in his chair, "Fine. Any other bright ideas then, Specs."

A slight curve appeared at the corners of Ignis lips, "A dark one, as it were. If we move under the cover of night, we might be able to infiltrate the base unnoticed."

"Okay," I said, really mesmerized and impressed my Ignis' smarts, "what do we do until then?"

"We learn all we can about the base's design and attempt to narrow down the Regalia's location." He crossed his arms and put on his serious thinking face, "I'll analyze what intelligence we have available to find us a way in."

Noct smiled, "Sounds good,"

"Alright!" Prompto yelled proudly, "We're gonna get our wheels back!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
We took cover behind some stray barricades nearby and examined the base's entrance. There were three soldiers patrolling the area.

"Together on my signal," Ignis whispered.

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Now,"

Noct began warping quickly, impaling each soldier in the back. I was impressed by how silent his attack was. We all stood as he took out the last one.

"Excellent," Ignis complimented. We carefully poked our heads inside the entrance to see if there were more soldiers. There didn't appear to be any.

Noct strolled right in like he owned the place. We followed him calmly until a flash of bright light quickly swept across the area.

"Get down!" I hear Ignis whisper, but before I can process it I feel a rough hand push me down by my shoulder and guide me to some cover. When we are hidden I roughly push the hand away and look up at Gladio with an annoyed expression. I look away from him without a word.

Ignis observed carefully, "Search lights. Keep to the shadows,"

We walked stealthily behind cover around the base. Noct took out each soldier that blocked our path with ease. After a while Prompto spotted a glowing red tower that appeared to be the center of this base.

"This what's powering the base?"

Ignis analyzed the tower as best he could, "A Magitek generator of some description."

"I say we wreck it. Spare us the sneaking around," Gladio suggested.

Ignis shook his head, "The risk is too great. Finding the Regalia comes first."

We continued on for a while until we found the gorgeous black car in the middle of large open space.

"There's the old girl." Noct said happily.

"Finally," I sighed, relieved that we could finally get out of here. As we approached the vehicle though a large machine detected us.

"Change of plans," Ignis sighed.

"We clear us path and get the hell out of here," I finished.

Ignis paused for a moment, "Not exactly the way I would put it, but yes,"

In mere moments the area was filled with imperial soldiers and their machines. We drew out our weapons and did the best we could to defeat them all, but we were being quickly overwhelmed and outnumbered. As I fought I noticed something. Gladio rarely left my side and stole my kills several times. At some point I look over and see him smirk for a second.

That bastard doesn't think I can handle this! I feel an overwhelming sense of anger flood through me. I try my best to attack harder and faster. It wasn't working at first but eventually I managed to slide under his arm and stab my dagger into the chest of an MT. I quickly drag the blade up to its neck and kick it off my weapon.

I resist the urge to laugh when I see him slightly taken aback. I continue fighting and hear him call out behind me, "Don't get cocky,"

I roll my eyes, "Like your one to talk,"

The sun was beginning to rise already and we knew we probably wouldn't be making it out alive.

"Noct!" We turned towards the British man, "Focus your efforts on the generator! It should weaken all the MT's!"

Noct quickly made his way to the center of the base while we stayed by the Regalia. I did my best to kill the enemies from a distance using long ranged weapons and magic flasks. However, more and more enemies just kept on coming.

It wasn't long until the sky grew gray and the sound of lightning was ringing in our ears. We looked up towards the tower to see a giant old man, holding a staff in one hand, reaching for something on the ground. When he lifted his fist back up we could see that he had picked something, or rather someone up.

Ramuh.

He slowly lifted his staff and aimed for the tower bellow. A large bolt of lightning struck it and energized the staff. Then in a blink of an eye the Stormsender sent it flying for the tower. The noise of the impact was painfully loud.

The four if us held out hands to our ears. I thought the sound would make me go deaf. Suddenly I felt something hit my chest. I fell to the ground as the sky cleared up and looked up to see a soldier aiming a gun at my head. I quickly shield my eyes and brace for impact.

"Y/N!" I hear Gladio call out to me before the sound of metal crashing beside me.

I look up and see Gladio looking exhausted and hold a hand out to me, "You alright?" He asked between sharp breathes.

I hesitate for a moment before grabbing his hand. I nod, "Th-thanks," I stutter in shock. I couldn't get mad at him for helping me this time.

I look around and see that the remaining soldiers had either been electrocuted or taken down by the other three.

We headed towards the Regalia and waited for Noct to return.

"Are you alright? You weren't hurt, were you?" Ignis asked. He looked me up and down for wounds.

I held my hand up to one of my ears, "Yea, but my ear drums are killing me," they all laughed slightly.

Prompto looked off behind me and started waving and yelling, "Dude! That was hardcore!" I turned to see Noct looking pretty beat walking towards us.

"And it did the trick," Ignis chimed in, "The place is dead,"

Gladio started getting ready to get in the Regalia "Rest in pieces. C'mon let's split," He stopped and looked off behind us all.

We turned and found a man dressed in white. Although I've only ever seen her in the media, he bore a striking resemblance to Lunafreya.

"Long has it been, Noctis," his voice was rather unsettling, like he had some tricks up his sleeves that he couldn't wait to unleash.

"Ravus," Noct sounded a bit surprised. I wondered how they knew each other.

He walked closer and held the point of his sword to Noct's throat. Gladio reacted quickly and tried to handle things calmly, but Ravus only turned the blade towards him. He then held out a mechanical hand to stop the rest of us, "Be still. All of you," He began a typical villainous speech.

"Heir to a crown befitting no other. Witness his splendor and glory. All hail the Chosen King." He spat out the last part of his sentence in disgust.

Noct spoke up and traded some harsh words of his own, "Awful high and mighty for an imperial rat, serving the enemy to hunt down Luna!"

Ravus quickly grabbed Noct by the neck, "I do not serve! I command!" He threw him back and Gladio stepped in front of him before Ravus could do anything rash, "The Kings sworn shield,"

"You better believe it," Ravus swung his sword down only for Gladio to summon his to block it. I could see him struggling to keep Ravus away. Here was the buffest man I've ever seen struggling to defend himself from someone who looked much weaker. What was worse is his sword was also much larger than Ravus'. It was shocking.

I don't know why, but seeing this happen to Gladio made me especially angry. I quickly summoned a crossbow with my left hand and held it against Ravus' temple. I noticed him ease up slightly.

"If I were you," I started calmly, "I would drop your weapon," he barred his teeth in anger.

"Fool! Do you know who I-" he gave up on Gladio and turned towards me. However, before he could finish his sentence I pressed the tip of my weapon firmly against his throat. The tip of the loaded arrow nearly pierced his skin.

I got close to his face and made the best intimidating face I could muster, "I know, and I don't care. I shouldn't have to tell you who I am," I gesture to the uniform I'm wearing with my free hand. He glances down and then looks back up at me.

I begin walking closer to him which causes him to walk back at the same pace, "And I shouldn't have to tell you that I'm sworn to protect the King." He looks at me as if he is overflowing with anger. I whisper in an angry voice, but it’s still loud enough for the others to hear, "Believe me. If you hurt any of these guys I'll make you regret you were ever born. I don't give a damn what the consequences are."

Everyone looked at me with fear. Ravus still looked angrier than ever, but I can sense that he's afraid.


	13. Chapter 13

"I'd say that's far enough. A hand, Highness?" I quickly summon a blade with my other hand and point it at Ardyn’s throat.

"We don't need any help from you," I said plainly with a blank face.

He chuckles, "My, you're so scary,"

I bar my teeth in anger as he uses his pointer finger to lightly push my blade away. I begrudgingly lower the sword and unsummon it.

"I'm just here to take the army away," he states as he walks closer to Ravus.

"You expect us to believe that?" Gladio questions.

Ardyn just turns his back towards us and responds ominously, "Next we meet, it'll be across the seas," he looks from Ravus, to the crossbow, to me, "Do you mind, darling?"

I stare him down for a moment, but he seems unfazed. Then Gladio puts a hand on my shoulder and leans in and whispers, "It's fine. You don't have to do this," 

This jabbed at my brain for a second. I look up at Ravus. He for some reason looks defeated and ashamed now that Ardyn is here. I just stare at him for a moment, contemplating what I should do. Finally, I scoff and unsummon the weapon.

Ardyn smiles and signals Ravus with one hand to follow him. As they walk away he calls out, "Fare thee well, Your Majesty! And safe travels!" We watch them escape from view before getting in the Regalia and driving off.

"You guys know that guy?" Prompto asks nervously. It's silent for a moment.

"Ravus Nox Fleuret." Ignis starts, "First son of Tenebrae and elder brother to Lady Lunafreya," I hear the others get in the Regalia one by one, but I just continue to stare off in the direction our enemies had gone.

"Hey," Gladio's voice comes out in a gentle whisper. I look down at the ground not wanting to look at him. I felt bad that they had to witness that, but something inside of me just snapped. Seeing Gladio struggle like that had overwhelmed me. I wasn't sure why and I couldn't explain the feeling.

He turned me around to face him. His expression was serious, but it had a grateful smile to it, "Thank you, Y/N. You really saved my ass from that guy," I smiled lightly and looked down at our feet.

I took a deep breath to recollect myself, "Well," I breathed out, "Consider it thanks. You really saved me today too,"

His smile grew wider and he gave me a thumbs up, "No problem!" I watched as he went to hold the back door open for me. Why have I been having these strange feelings? I just want to know what his intentions are. What is he hoping to achieve? But as curious as I am I'm too afraid to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
We entered the Leville to find Iris alone in the lobby. She looked like she was in distress.

"Iris?" Gladio said worriedly as he pushed through us and made his way to his sister, "What's wrong?"

Iris tried speaking in between sobs, "I'm sorry, Gladdy... We never made it to Caem... The army..." All of us tensed up. The room was silent, the only sound that echoed against the walls was her sobs.

I sighed, "Let's continue you this in one of the hotel rooms." Everyone nods, and we make our way upstairs to the boys' room.

Iris sits down, and we stand around waiting for her to calm down and speak up. After what seemed like forever she finally spoke.

"None of us said a word about Noct. They just showed up... and... poor Jared." Gladio looks almost panicked.

"What? What happened to Jared?"

"There was nothing we could do!" She yelled. 

I slump down at the end of one of the beds and bury my face in my hands. Why does everyone have to get hurt because of us? The door opens and all of us look up. Its only cracked open slightly, but we could see little Talcott standing in the door way. He was shaking with fear. Noct kneels down in front of him. He whispers something, but I can't make it out.

"I-I... I couldn't stop them!" Talcott cries out.

Noct looks slightly choked up and shakes his head, "I won't let the empire get away with it. They'll pay for what they've done." Talcott doesn't say anything. He just nods slightly and walks away slowly, still shaking.

We decided that Monica would escort Iris and Talcott to Cape Caem and we would meet up with them. Until then, we stay in Lestallum for the night, however, I can't sleep. I couldn't help but wonder what Niflheim was hoping to achieve. Only the royal family can use the Crystal or the Ring. So, why did they want them so badly? They wouldn't be able to use it for anything. The rest of the night I tossed and turned as these thoughts haunted my mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next day we left Lestallum in a hurry. I could see from the look on everyone's faces that no one got any sleep last night. The ride to Cape Caem was mostly silent, but at one-point Prompto asked me a question.

"So, Y/N. What was it like?" He started.

"What was what like?"

"Becoming a Glaive. How did it feel?"

"Was it like suddenly having superpowers?" Gladio added.

"Yea. I'm actually kinda curious too," Noct chimed in. I looked at each boy, trying to find the right words to describe probably one of the worst sensations in my life.

"You don't have to share if you don't want to. Though I'm overwhelmed with curiosity myself," Ignis said. He kept his eyes on the road the entire time he spoke. It was silent once more.

"Well," I began, "It was definitely my least favorite memory," All of them looked puzzled.

"What do you mean? I would have thought becoming a member of the Kingsglaive would be the best memory," Gladio asked.

"Um..." I paused scratching the back of my head, "Well, when I found out that I would become a Glaive I was happy, but," Three of the boys leaned towards me as though they were small children being told an interesting story.

"Receiving the Kings power... It's not the most pleasant experience." I finally answered.

"Come on! Give us the details," Prompto urged. I laughed.

"Have you guys ever heard of what happens when someone who is not of royal blood puts on the Ring of the Lucii?" I asked. Their long silence answered my question. I sighed, "Well. Only the royal family is allowed to harness the Crystals power. If anyone else tries to use it they will be seriously injured, or in extreme cases they will die."

Prompto looked pretty spooked, while the others tried masking their uneasy feeling. "Yikes! Was it painful?" The blonde asked.

I thought for a moment, trying to find a way to explain it, "It was almost like... I was on fire from the inside. I could normally handle a bit of pain, but all I could remember was my throat burning from my blood curdling screams and my vision growing white. Afterwards, I felt so exhausted I had to rest for an entire day."

"Wait, you said using the Crystals power causes injuries," Prompto started, "You look just fine to me,"

"When it comes to the Kingsglaive it's a bit more complicated," I answered, "but the sensation is more or less the same." The rest of the ride was silent from then on until Ignis stopped the Regalia on the side of the road.

"What's up Iggy?" Noct asked. We looked around and found that Ignis had stopped not that far from an Imperial base.

"We may want to take care of this before we continue," he suggested. We all exit the car and head for a haven nearby. 

Everything goes exactly as it had the first time we took down a base. We waited, and we came up with a plan. This time, however, Gladio and Prompto would create a diversion while the rest of us sneak our way to the generator powering the base. Everything went exactly the same. We stuck to the shadows, still managing to get caught in the end. When the alarm sounded, and machines were headed in our direction Gladio and Prompto happened to be nearby.

"Sneaking around just isn't our strong suite, is it?" I rhetorically asked in annoyance as I summoned a polearm, ready to attack. 

We fought our way through and managed to get to the generator together this time, and without the help of the gods as well. However, just as we were about to leave we heard a woman yelling above us. We looked up to see her falling to the ground, a large spear in her hand that was aimed for Noctis. When she landed he manage to deflect her attack with a sword. She quickly lunged at him again, getting in his face.

"Hey, pretty boy," she said in a teasing voice. She jumped back, and we could see she was wearing Imperial armor. Her face was covered with a mask. "Let's see what you can do," she challenged.

The fight was long and hard. She was too quick, and she used a lot of aerial attacks, making it impossible to reach her. Every now and then she'd mockingly compliment one of us on our skills.

As we began to get tired she suddenly jumped up to one of the metal bridges that connected some of the towers around the base. She took off her mask. She was absolutely gorgeous, with silver hair, "Aw, is it that time already?"

"What time?" Noct asked.

"Quittin' time. Sorry, but this girl doesn't work after hours," her amount of confidence frustrated me, "I could, but there wouldn't be a single gil in it for me." She made a whiny sound, as if she were having way too much fun to leave, "Let's play again some time, pretty boy." And with that she disappeared.

All four men stared up where she had been standing in amazement. I saw that Gladio even looked stunned with interest. I had only ever seen him look at girls like they were toys, but this was a different look. Seeing it made me burn with rage.

"Who was she?" Noct asked, his voice soft and quiet.

I rolled my eyes and balled up my fists as I turned to leave the base, "Who cares?" I called out, "Let's just get out of here," It took a while, but soon I could hear their footsteps following me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
We were pleased to see that everyone had made it to Caem safe and sound. Monica and Iris managed to set up an abandoned cabin for us to stay at nearby, and Cid and Cindy had come to fix us a boat for Altissia. Unfortunately, they needed a rare ore called Mythril. Talcott informed us that we could find it inside some ruins near the Vesperpool.

We began to head inside the cabin when Gladio stopped us, "So yea, gonna have to ask you to handle this boat business without me,"

"What? Gonna run off to find that girl?" I teased. Even though I was joking a part of me was serious.

He chuckled and shook his head, "Nah. Got some business of my own to take care of," I was curious as to what this business might be but chose not to ask.

"Not like we could stop you anyway," Noct sighed.

Gladio left without even having dinner or staying the night at Caem with us. Monica made us all dinner, which Ignis seemed really uncomfortable and unused to. We stayed in Caem for a few days, sleeping in separate rooms once again.


	14. Chapter 14

"The waterfall cave was right around here," Ignis said sitting next to me in the back seat of the Regalia.

"That means the lake should be somewhere north of here," Prompto stated sitting in the passenger seat as he read the map.

I stared out the rain drop covered window lost in thought. After Gladio had left our party I couldn't stop thinking about what he might be up to. I tried asking his sister, but Iris said she had no clue. Iris and I became fast friends during our stay in Cape Caem. We shared a room together in the small cabin and would stay up late chatting about random topics.

We talked a lot about home and past memories in Insomnia. At one-point Iris told me a story from her childhood. She said Gladio had always hated Noct before. He didn't think he'd ever become king. Iris would often here her brother complain about him and wanted to meet Noct herself. The Citadel staff were happy to let her visit the prince, so they had her wait in a room that had a glass door leading out into the garden.

No one was watching her, and she ran outside to chase a cat. After losing the cat she had gotten lost and began wondering around. She said she felt terrified. That is until Noct saved her. He found her and brought her back to the Citadel. When they returned Gladio was furious. He screamed at Iris demanding to know what she was thinking. Noct noticed how scared she was and stepped in. He took the blame for her. And when Gladio found out he began to admire him. He saw potential in him for the first time.

It sounded like such a sweet story and it was interesting to learn new things about Gladio. However, I couldn't help but notice something strange in her attitude when she talked about Noct. She seemed almost lovestruck.

I asked her about it and she confirmed my suspicions. I felt bad and she knew what I was thinking. She was well aware that Noct would never be hers. He clearly loved Luna too much for that. Then the conversation took an awkward turn. A turn that I had not expected.

Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Enough about my hopeless love life," Iris spoke with a smile, but there was sadness behind her voice. We sat together on her bed like we had been doing every night since Gladio left, "I want to know what you’re planning to do with my big brother," she crossed her arms and gave me an intimidating look. It was uncanny how similar these two were.

I became flustered, "Wh-what do you mean 'what do I plan to do with him'?!"

She smirked. It’s like he never left or something, "I'm not dumb. I see the way you two act around each other. You act like you hate him, but I know you don't,"

I laughed in her face, "I hate him more than anything in this world! No offense, but your brother is disgusting," I lay back in the bed and put an arm behind my head.

She giggled, "You gotta be more specific than that. Every boy is gross," she leaned back on her hands and just looked at me, trying to study my face, "So? Why do you hate him so much?"

I looked at her for a moment. It seemed hard to talk about for some reason. I looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "He's a disgusting playboy. He gets thirsty for every girl that walks by him. I'm nothing but another one of his victims he hopes to claim,"

I heard her sigh, "I won't lie. That sounds like Gladdy," she admitted, "but he does treat you differently."

I shook my head and let out a weak chuckle, "Now you sound like Ignis,"

"You don't believe me," it was more of a statement than a question. We were silent for a moment. "Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" She asked.

"I don't feel anything towards him, Iris," I exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, come on, Y/N." Her words almost overlapped with mine, "You can't fool me. You're just saying that because you don't want to admit how you really feel. You're afraid of liking him, but it's too late. You already do," I stared at her for a moment unsure of what to say. It's true I've been trying to reject him to avoid liking him, but I've been successful... haven't I?

When she realizes I can't respond she starts, "I got an idea. You said Ignis knows about this right?"

I sit up, "Yea?"

She smiled evilly at me, "Why not teach Gladdy a lesson?"

I smiled back, "I’m down. What are you planning?"

She turned slightly to face me more, "I say we have Ignis pretend to flirt with you and try to make Gladdy jealous. And who knows, maybe he'll finally confess to you."

My smile faded, "Ignis would never do that. Besides I'd feel weird about it,"

"Don't worry. I know my way around these boys. Besides, Noct clearly loves someone else and Prompto is too chicken to openly hit on a girl," I chuckled knowing that was true.

"Ignis is a good actor, and you can't help but admit that he is charming," I nodded in agreement.

"So?" She asked.

I thought about it for a moment, "I don't know..."

"Think about it. Just text me the phrase 'Do it' when you’re ready, and we'll get started," She explain as she held up her phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I kept my eyes out the window thinking about Iris' plan. None of my plans to get back at him ever worked, so I was willing to take anything at this point. But a part of me felt too worried.

I looked over at Ignis beside me. I wondered if I'd be able to pretend to like him. We were just friends. I didn't see either one of us doing a very good job. He looked at me and I instantly turned my head away in embarrassment. This isn't gonna work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After finally reaching the lake we got out of the Regalia and followed the mark on our map Talcott had made. There weren't very many ruins in the area, but there were random arches scattered around the grove. Underneath one of them we found...

Ardyn. Of course.

"Well, what a lovely surprise." The more I heard that ominous voice the more it pissed me off.

"I thought the 'next time we meet' it would be 'across the seas'" I scoffed as I held up quotation marks with my fingers.

He smirked, "I've come here with my imperial friends," he continued, ignoring my statement.

"Splendid," Ignis growled. We could see three people standing behind him. They were standing in front of some tight crevice, similar to an entrance. One of them was the woman the boys had been so fond of back at the last base.

Wonderful. This is really gonna be my day, huh?

"Just one moment," Ardyn turned to speak with the woman quietly. It wasn't a very long conversation. Ardyn then turned to us, bowed as if to say farewell, and then left us in her care.

"So, your the 'new recruits' they sent over for 'special training'" she asked, "Nice cover, run away prince," sarcasm was just oozing from her words. All of us glared uneasily at her. All except Prompto anyway, "Don't worry. There's nothing in it for this ex mercenary to turn you in." She reassured, "But I am being paid to escort you, so let's get going right after sun down."

"Why sun down?" Prompto asked eagerly.

"These ruins won't open until it gets dark," she explained, "we'll have to be in and out quick, or else we'll be stuck in there all night and day," Prompto shuddered at the thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We crept through the dark and creepy corridors, just waiting for something to jump out at us. The ruins were nothing like we had ever seen before.

"What was this place? " I wondered.

"Beats me," the woman, Aranea answered.

Most of the ruins were no different than any other cavern we've explored up until now. It had nice architecture and was somewhat lit, but there were still just as many daemons. However, the main hall was the most amazing thing we had ever witnessed. It was huge and there was a slight glow, unlike the rest of this dark building, and a water like pattern danced around the floor beneath us.

"Beautiful beyond words," Ignis said, absolutely amazed.

"Look up!" Prompto gasped, pointing at the ceiling. We followed his gaze to see a large pool of water floating above us. It was an amazing sight. There was no glass between us and the water, and a few drips fell on us every now and then. The water was actually floating upside down.

"Are we underwater?" Prompto asked.

"I don't think so," I answered, although my voice was unsure. We continued to watch and noticed there was even fish swimming up there.

"The hell is this place?" Noct questioned.

We continued on and talked to the woman, Aranea, about the empire. Apparently, they've been hunting for daemons and doing strange things with them. They were experimenting them to make weapons that could possibly destroy Lucis. In fact, most of the weapons they used in Insomnia were the results of these experiments. Knowing this fact only angered me. After we reach the middle of the hall we continued to look around, holding out our hands to catch the water droplets that fell from the ceiling.

"Man! Gladio is seriously missing out," Prompto said, "Hey, what do you think he's doing?"

"Meeting girls, probably," I answered feeling rather annoyed by the thought.

"Son of a bitch!" Prompto's voice echoed through the hall. We all smacked and shushed him. "Sorry," he whispered, but it was too late.

A Quetzalcoatl charged at us from somewhere upstairs. All of us managed to jump out of the way, but this thing was lightning fast. It quickly flew up and shot out a bolt of lightning from its beak. Once again, we dodged the attack, but just barely. I could feel the electricity disturbing the air around me.

"How the hell are we gonna beat this?" I yelled.

"Hold up. I've got a plan," Aranea said. We were skeptical at first, but we didn't exactly want to be burned to a crisp in this dungeon. As the bird flies up onto another floor we all run and duck behind some giant rocks that had probably fallen off the ceiling or something.

"Alright, pretty boy. You're gonna use that special Crystal magic of yours to create a distraction. After that thing turns around all paralyze it,"

"And what then?" Ignis asked. She smirked.

"Go nuts,"

Soon the Quetzalcoatl flew back down again and began looking around the room for us.

"Better do it now before we're caught, pretty boy," Aranae ordered in frustration.

"Uh, right," As soon as the beasts back was turned Noct point warped to the other side of the room. "Hey! Over here!" He yelled as he started waving his arms above his head.

The bird began charging up to strike him down with lightning. He looked pretty panicked. But before the bird could attack him Aranea launched up into the air and come crashing down, stabbing her spear into the Quetzalcoatl's back. The bird fell down and screeched in pain.

Ignis then ran out from cover and pointed at the beast, "Now! Give it all we got!"

All of us then began attacking the Quetzalcoatl as fast as we could. The giant bird couldn't get back up, no matter how hard it tired. Then Noct finished it with a warp strike. After cheering and celebrating like usual we began searching the hall for the Mythril. It wasn't long until we found some. After exiting the ruins just before sunset and saying our goodbyes to Aranea, Ignis received a text message on his phone.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's from Cindy. We are to return to Lestallum. A friend of hers will take care of the Mythril."

"Sounds good. Let's go," Noct said as he began heading out of the grove.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lovin' that outfit, Noct!" Prompto yelled as he whistled at the prince in his hazmat suit. We had arrived to Lestallum a few hours ago and washed up as we waited for Cindy's friend, Holly. When she finally showed up she said there was trouble at the power plant. It was being invested with daemons. She wouldn't be able to take care of the Mythril until the problem was solved. Which meant Noct had to go in alone, along with one other man that had went in before him.

"Why don't you wear one!" Noct spat at his blonde friend in annoyance. I tried to hold back a laugh. He looked both hilarious and a bit gross. As Noct explored the plant Holly spoke to him over an ear piece. However, we couldn't hear his responses, so the three of us spent time just talking. We talked about what we planned on doing next and some other random junk. After about an hour or two both Noct and the hunter who had went on ahead walked out successfully together. When they reached us they both took off their helmets and revealed that the hunter was actually Gladio. It was strange. A part of me actually felt happy to see him.

"Hey, big guy!" Prompto shouted as he gave him a slap on the back.

"Hey, how you been guys?" He asked. We all looked carefully to see that Gladio had two new scars. One on his forehead and another across his chest. Both looked pretty bad.

"Uh, not bad. But someone sure did a number on you," Prompto answered.

Gladio crossed his arms and flashed a cocky smile, "You should see the other guy."

I was about to say hi to him before he turned his attention to Holly. I'm sure she has a good body, but you wouldn't know because of that gross hazmat suit. I started boiling with rage. I'm so sick of this bastard looking at other girls. If he needs something to look at I'll give it to him. I pull out my phone and aggressively tap on the glass. I pulled up my messenger app and tapped on Iris' contact. I finally type the phrase:

Do it.


	15. Chapter 15

After Holly finished fixing up the Mythril for us, we headed out to the car, ready to leave Lucis behind. As we walked I felt something pull on the back of my shirt. I turned toward the source to see Ignis holding his phone up for me to see. He had a chat pulled up and there was just one text from Iris:

Iris: She's in! You know what to do.

"She informed me of the plan a few days ago," he explained. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. Of course she did, "May I?" He held up one arm towards me almost like he was about to put his arm around my shoulders.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You actually want to go through with this?"

He lowered his arm slowly, "I can't say I'm comfortable with the situation, but I can tell this is all having a negative effect on you. I’d rather make Gladio confess, so that you can get your thoughts back on track than let him continue to tease you."

I sighed. I still wasn't sure about this. I looked back at Gladio, and he was still walking to the Regalia. I thought about everything he has done since I've met him. He’s so convinced that I like him. If I were to pretend I like Ignis instead, then this would change the game. I'd have the upper hand. I could beat him.

I look back at Ignis, "Do it."

He smiled. I'm pretty sure it was a fake one since I've never seen him smile like this. He really was a good actor. Hell, he was amazing at it. He draped his arm over me and pulled me closer to him and the mixture of his cologne and ebony invaded my senses. I felt flustered and uncomfortable, but this would be worth Gladio’s reaction… right? 

We walked towards the others as he leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Might want to lose the scowl on your face when he sees us,"

I looked up at him rather annoyed. I guess he can be a real ass too. Just then Gladio turned around to see where we were. He immediately looked taken aback when he saw us. I froze for a moment. Ignis was still leaned in close and saw that I was scared. He quickly moved his hand down around my torso.

"Laugh," he whispered with a smile on his face. He then pushed on my rib cage lightly. I giggled at the ticklish feeling. My laughter caused me to push myself closer to him. Damn. I had no idea he was capable of this.

By this point we had caught up to Gladio. He looked at us quizzically, "Uh, hey." he said hesitantly. I noticed he was avoiding Ignis' gaze. We stopped in front of him.

"Something wrong, Gladio?" I asked. I tried to hide the joy in my voice from seeing him so confused.

"Nothing” he paused, “Did I miss something while I was gone?"

I shrugged, and Iggy and I looked at each other with fake loving eyes, "You could say that," we looked back at Gladio, who was glaring at Ignis. His jaw was tight, and he looked like he was ready to tear him apart. I looked back up at Ignis worriedly. I was losing my cool and was afraid Ignis was too. But he looked fine. He just smirked at Gladio before pulling me to keep walking. Gladio fell behind and I resisted the urge to look back at him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we got to Cape Caem we decided it would be best to stay the night before heading out. Noct and Prompto stayed back to stock up on supplies at the stand nearby while I left with Ignis and Gladio. After being greeted by Iris at the cabin, Gladio turned to Ignis who had sat in the back with me, held the door of the Regalia open for me, and was now holding my hand, "Hey, Iggy. We need to talk,"

Ignis looked unfazed, "Alright." he looked down at me, "Be right back, love." And just for good measure he leaned down to gently kiss my cheek. I felt uncomfortable with the gesture, but luckily blushed in embarrassment. Gladio looked heated by this as he walked inside and upstairs into the boys' bedroom with Ignis.

I noticed Iris jumping up and down like she was fangirling. She watched them go upstairs and as soon as the door closed she motioned for me to quickly follow her, "You two are doing great!" she whispered as we tiptoed up the stairs as fast as possible. The doors in this cabin have always been so easy to just push open, so it wasn't hard to gently push the door until it was cracked wide enough for us to see and hear. 

Ignis had sat down in an armchair. His legs were crossed, and his hands rested on the arms of the seat. he looked calm, composed, and most of all, devious. Almost as if he were proud of what he's doing. He was acting like a total stud. 

Gladio was standing over him, arms crossed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Gladio asked angrily.

Ignis moved his palms upward, as if he were confused, before letting them fall back down, "Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid, Iggy!" he growled back, "So what? I leave for a few days and all of a sudden you're some ladies’ man now?"

Ignis was absolutely killing it, but I was worried his odd behavior would tip Gladio off that something wasn't right, "Is something wrong with me being with Y/N?" he asked in a somewhat ominous tone.

Gladio dropped his hands to his sides and clenched his fists, "No shit. I had my eyes on her for a while now. You knew that," Well, I guess it was nice knowing this, but it wasn't like this clarified anything. Who knew if he liked me or just wanted the prize. 

Ignis stood up to face him. This was getting a little too serious, but the show had to go on I guess. I hoped this wouldn't ruin their friendship, "My apologies. I suppose I got tired of watching you play with your food instead of eating it." He responded in a cold voice.

Gladio barred his teeth in anger, "I don't want to ruin a friendship, Iggy. Just back off."

Ignis got a little closer and crossed his arms, "And what makes you think she'll run to you?"

"She doesn't like you," he spat, "she's just trying to play hard to get, but it won't work."

Ignis smirked, "I believe it already has, Gladio." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boat was down at the shore below the lighthouse. Iris, Monica, and Talcott decided to walk us there to say goodbye. We step inside the elevator inside the lighthouse and Iris informs us that they've moved the Regalia below the deck of the ship. She seems sad as she tells us this, almost as if she doesn't want us to go. To be honest, I felt pretty sad too.

When we reach the bottom, we find a small lit up room with Cid and Cor waiting inside. Cid had requested we call when we were ready so that he could drive the boat. I assume he brought Cor along. I wonder why. Things are a bit quiet and awkward at first. I find Noct staring down at a framed picture nearby, and he looked upset. I took a closer look to see what looked like four men by the Regalia. They almost looked like...

"Something I need to get off my chest..." Cor spoke up. We all look at him, waiting to hear what he has to say. He looks down at the floor hard with his arms crossed, like he can't make the words come out.

"What's that?" Noct asks to encourage him to continue.

He eventually uncrosses his arms and stands up straight. He looks Noctis in the eye as he says, "I'm sorry. Sorry I wasn't there for your father." Noct looks slightly taken aback by this. I thought he'd be upset at the mere mention of his father again, but the look on his face shows understanding, almost as if he committed the same sin. I cross my arms and look away, realizing that I had messed up to.

When I can no longer bare the silence, I begin to tumble over my own words, "I-I...um" I can feel all their stares piercing me. I sigh, still refusing to look up, "I'm sorry too. For lying about why your father assigned me as one of your retainers... Maybe one more Glaive could have saved him and Insomnia after all." I look up. Everyone is looking down now. No one knows what to say.

"Ain't nothin' nobody could've done to stop what happened." Cid said, losing his harsh tone for once.

"Yea," Noct responded, "I realize that," Something about Noct seems closed off and reserved. Although this wasn't unusual. He's been this way the whole trip. In fact, he's probably always been this way.

"But you need to realize just what you mean to the boys by your side... Oh and her too," I look up slightly confused.

Noct looks up at the four of us. I can see a hint of feeling in his eyes for the first time, "I do."

"Even if they can't solve your problems," he pauses for a moment and then continues in a sad whisper, like he's reminiscing, "you can't hide what's goin' on from 'em." He leans forward and raises his voice back to a normal tone, "Remember, those ain't your bodyguards, they're your family."

I'm even more surprised now. I didn't think I'd be this accepted in just a few months. I look to the boys, wondering if maybe Cid was just confused about my relationship with these guys. As though they read my mind they all give me a reassuring nod.

"Trust in 'em always," I could see Cid was holding back tears, probably remembering his time spent with King Regis. Eventually, he stands up and begins to hobble towards the exit.

"Wait! Cid!" Iris stops him, "We should all take a group photo. Who knows when we'll see each other again." We all group up together as Prompto sets up his tripod. We talk amongst ourselves as he makes some adjustments.

"Ready or not!" He yells to get our attention. He quickly runs over to get in the shot. When the light flashes we huddle around the camera to take a look. This sure is an emotional moment for us all.

I gave Iris a hug before leaving. "Don't forget the plan. Text me if it works out," she whispered to me. Finally, we get up on the boat and I watch as Noctis waves to Iris and Talcott goodbye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, next on the docket is Leviathan." Prompto says as he takes pictures of the ocean. We had been mostly silent before discussing what comes next. We also began discussing about Lunafreya's possession of the Ring. 

Ignis and I sat next to each other a bit closely. We had made sure to inform Noct and Prompto last night so that they wouldn't blow our cover.

"Do you know how Lady Lunafreya got the Ring, Y/N?" Prompto asked.

I nodded, "Lunafreya came to the Crown City while we were gone. Some Glaive had been ordered to bring her to King Regis, get the Ring, and escape."

"Oh, right! You said you were originally going to escort her, didn't you?"

I look out at the sea as if I'm lost in thought, "Hmm. But they replaced me so that I can escort Noct instead."

"Who'd they replace you with?" Gladio asked. He had been standing at the edge of the boat, refusing to look at us. He hadn't even taken his eyes off the sea to look at me.

"I'm not sure. I found out last minute that I was reassigned, and I didn't really have time to say goodbye to anyone." It's silent for a moment.

"What are the odds the empire will crash the pool party with Leviathan?" Prompto asked.

"Consider it a guarantee," Ignis sighed.

We were silent for most of the trip after that. Cid asked us to pay an old friend of his a visit while we're in Altissia. He runs a dinner and had traveled with him and King Regis years ago. Cid claims he can pay for a room for us. As we near Altissia we get a signal on the radio. It’s a news woman reporting that Lady Lunafreya will give a speech before awakening Leviathan. We eventually reach a city built on the water. It looks much fancier than Lucis, and everything is much brighter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After reaching the restaurant and figuring out our living conditions for the night we decided to order some food. The food at the restaurant is a lot fancier than I am used to, but it's still pretty good. Not as good as Ignis' cooking though.

"My dear Camelia, it's been a while." The restaurant owner says. We see an older woman approach us. She seems really grumpy for some reason.

"I heard about your distinguished guests," she looks to us and crosses her arms. She jumps into conversation right away, "I won't waste your time. My name is Camelia Claustra."

"First secretary of the Accordo Protectorate," Ignis finishes.

"You should know we have Lady Lunafreya in our care," Noctis seems a bit tense when he hears this. "And the empire demands that we surrender her."

"What?" Noct begins to get angry. Camelia then explains that she won't surrender her if the King of Lucis has a better offer. She requests Noct to visit her at her estate as soon as possible and leaves before we can say anything else. We decide to head for the hotel first to discuss our plans, and wait to take Noct to the secretary in the evening.

"However, the four of us may not be allowed inside." Ignis points out.

"What should we do in the meantime then?" Prompto asks.

"Just do whatever," Noct answers.

"Alright," Ignis starts, "Y/N-" Ignis reaches for my hand, but Gladio grabs it.

"Hold on," he interrupted keeping his tone calm. Ignis glared up at him, but for some reason Gladio seemed fine.

"Mind if I hang with Y/N instead?" We both looked at Gladio quizzically. Ignis tried to make it seem like he was suspicious of Gladio, but I could tell he was just as confused by Gladio’s behavior as I was.

"As long as you keep your hands and thoughts to yourself," he finally answered.

Gladio smiled, "Cool." He gave a thumbs up before letting go of Ignis. He turned to me, "Want to check out the stadium?" he asked as we began walking away.

I raised an eyebrow, "Stadium?"

"The Totomostro Stadium. It’s a monster stadium where you can bet money on monsters and they fight each other,"

I had to admit that sounded awesome, but I didn't want to seem too excited, "Okay, but this isn't a date." I reminded him.

We were now pretty far from the others, "Whatever you say, sweetheart"


	16. Chapter 16

"We can get a pretty good view from here," Gladio commented as we sat down in a private booth, Cup Noodles in our hands from one of the food stands.

"Yea, I guess." On the way here, I had started to feel more and more depressed. I didn't understand my feelings and I sure as hell didn't understand Gladio. I thought about what Iris had said about me hiding my feelings for Gladio. Perhaps in my attempt to hate him I ended tricking myself into believing I didn't like him. I wasn't sure. I just sat in silence, resting my head in my hand as the sound of horns filled the air.

"Who do you want to bet on first?" he asked. 

I looked up at him and saw that he was holding his phone out to me. I took it in my hands and saw that he had quickly downloaded an app to make bets on the monsters. There were a bunch of teams listed along with what creatures were in each team. I scanned the list of teams that were in the first round.

"Gotta go with Blaster Bro. Coeurls are too tough." I answered plainly as I handed back his phone.

He smiled, "I agree." Gladio placed the bet and then put away his phone. We would be able to turn in any points we earned from it at a machine back at the entrance and exchange them for gil. 

We waited for a while, eating our noodles in silence until a horn signaled the start of the first round. We both stood up straight to watch as a Coeurl ran out of one of the gates. Its opponents were a group of Voretooth, a Gigantoad, and some Garula. 

I couldn't help but enjoy myself. We watched as the Coeurl sat down at the edge of the arena waiting for each victim to come a little too close. It would electrocute them with lightning or sting them with its whiskers. Each of them would die instantly. The Garula were the only ones that wouldn't fight back. They would stay at the opposite side of the arena until the Coeurl got bored enough to finish them off. It seemed like this Coeurl had been in the show business for a while and understood what was going on. He must never lose a fight. 

I grew more and more excited with each match and cheered for the different teams. We had also gotten a horn to cheer on the monsters, and took turns blowing into it. 

"So," Gladio said, "Are you enjoying yourself, sweetheart?" I felt him touch my thigh and saw that he was leaning in a little close. 

I grabbed his hand to pull it away, "Hey, you need to back off. I'm with Iggy now,"

He chuckled and moved his hand away, "You don't need to lie to me,"

I quickly got defensive, "I'm not!" I yelled. I was about to start screaming profanities until he pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen a few times and handed it to me. I took the phone from him and looked at it. It was a conversation between him and Iris.

Iris: How's our little mission going?

Gladio: What mission?

Iris: Are you saying you forgot?! That's so unlike you Ignis.

I noticed by the time stamp on the next text that Gladio had waited a long time to see if she would explain on her own.

Iris: You're supposed to be making Gladdy jealous, remember? 

As I frantically scrolled faster. It became clear that Iris had accidentally texted the wrong person. After figuring it out she tried to play it off but eventually had no choice but to give up. She came right out and told him the truth. Finally, the conversation ended with:

Iris: You need to confess to her! You’re driving her crazy

Gladio: That’s the point

I slumped in my chair feeling defeated. Gladio plucked the phone from my hands and put it back in his pocket. 

"It's cute that you wanted to get back at me, but" he put his arm around my shoulder, "now I'm too afraid to leave you alone." He spoke devilishly, “Wouldn’t want you trying to run off with someone else,” It was clear that it was over for me. I was his toy. I belonged to him. And now it was clear that I was nothing but a play thing to him. 

I started feeling annoyed and wanted to cry, "Don't touch me! It's not like I did it because I like you! I just wanted to get back at you," 

He smiled evilly and leaned even closer. Our faces weren't very far apart even though I was trying to look away, "You don't fool me. You know I think I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

My voice grew shaky and quiet, "For what?"

"For tricking me like that, and for lying to me." He placed a hand on my hip and just felt around. I was scarred but couldn't tell why.

"Wh-what are you gonna do?" I asked.

He smirked, "I don't know. Maybe just tease you even more. Or maybe," he curled his finger around the belt of my pants and pulled lightly. He leaned in, brushing his lips lightly against my neck as he spoke softly, "Maybe I'll give you what you've been wanting."

Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't hold them back anymore, and I wasn't sure I cared anymore, "Get away from me," I whispered and then sniffled.

He looked taken aback. Like he hadn't meant to make me cry. He pulled his hand away slightly, "What?"

I pushed him away and stood up, "Get away from me you jerk! Am I just some kind of sex object to you? Some girls hate it when you tease them like that dammit!"

"Y-Y/N, I-" He stood up and reached his arms out to me. I shoved him away and crossed my arms to cover myself.

"Save it, asshole!" I stormed off and tried to lose myself in the crowd has I heard Gladio calling out to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked through the streets of Altissia as the rain poured down on me. A quiet sobs escaped my lips as my clothes began to stick to my body. I shivered from the cold and walked slowly and pathetically to the hotel. I just didn't understand why. A part of me didn't even want to go back to the hotel. I knew Gladio would find me there and I was in no mood to deal with him. I never wanted to see him again.

I found myself lost in an empty street. The lights inside all the stores around me were turned off and there was nothing but the sound of pouring rain. I eventually started walking diagonally until I hit the wall of a building. Not wanting to move anymore I slumped down to the ground and began to cry harder. 

Then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I was surprised it was working considering how wet my clothes were. I pulled it out and was instantly taken aback by the time. The show had ended a long time ago. I suppose I had been wandering around a lot longer than I had thought. I also saw that I had several messages from Gladio. Curious, I tapped on the notification to pull up the chat. 

Gladio: Where are you? 

Gladio: Did you go back to the hotel?

Gladio: I'm on my way.

Gladio: Just got to the hotel? The others haven't seen you. Where. Are. You?

Gladio: Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.

Gladio: Y/N

Gladio: Y/N!

Gladio: You're scarring me.

Gladio: Just pick up!

As I read through the wet water droplets on the glass my phone rang. It was Gladio. I immediately hung up. He tried again but I refused to answer. After the third call he texted me.

Gladio: We are all going to search for you. Plz talk to me.

I sighed and sniffed both from the cold and the tears. I put my phone back in my pocket and stood up on my feet. I knew if I stayed here they might find me. Now that they knew I wasn't at the hotel maybe that's the last place they expect me to be right now. I trudged through the rain hoping they wouldn't find me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After making it back to the hotel I almost felt tempted to fall onto my bed and just lay there, wishing that I could disappear. Not wanting to get my bed wet, however, I walked over to my suitcase, took out a pair of shorts and a tank top that I used as PJs and made my way into the bathroom.

I peeled away the wet cloth that stuck to my skin and stepped into the burning hot shower. All I could do was stand there as the water spilled over my body. Silent tears streamed down my face as I thought of Gladio and all the things he's said and done to me. I knew the answer now. I meant nothing to him. I was finally ready to give up trying. I didn't want to face Leviathan tomorrow. I didn't want to continue the journey. I felt bad for betraying King Regis, but I didn't want to go on. At least, not if it meant spending more time with Gladio. 

I contemplated what to do, and then was startled by a loud pounding at the door. There was a pause and then more loud banging. I quickly turned off the water and reached out from the shower curtain to grab a towel. With the shower off I could hear Gladio's voice.

"Y/N, please. I know you're in there." he sounded out of breath and scared.

I dried myself off and listened to his pleading and banging. After pulling on my PJs I gently opened the bathroom door and leaned on the frame with my arms crossed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Just let me explain. Please."

I didn't respond. I just wanted him to give up and leave.

"Y/N open up or I'll just get the bellhop to let me in."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I reached for the door handle and begrudgingly crack up the door, leaving the chain lock on the door so that he couldn’t try to come in. I poke my head out and find a soaking wet Gladio panting heavily.


	17. Chapter 17

"What do you want?" I muttered.

Gladio looked scared and distraught. His eyes shifted for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts, "I know you’re mad, but can you please come out here, so we can talk?" he begged. His voice sounded broken like he was terrified. It was weird to hear him talk like this.

"We have nothing to talk about," I responded harshly. I began closing the door until he slipped his fingers through to stop me.

"Y/N, please!"

I sighed and closed the door, so I could take off the chain lock. I opened the door and step out of the room, shutting the door behind me. I now noticed that he was alone. I cross my arms and chose to look everywhere but at him. It's silent, "How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"I uh,” he paused for a moment and scratched the back of his head, “I gave the bellhop my number and told him to call if he saw a girl that looked like you,"

Figures, "And the others?"

"I asked them to go inside so we could talk," he answered while pointing at his room door.

It fell silent again. I began to tap my foot with impatience. Finally, I shook my head and scoffed, "Look can you get this over with?" I can already feel tears beading in my eyes.

His breathing sounded shaky, "Y/N... I am so sorry. I didn't realize how much I was hurting you. I'm not... used to girls like you,"

I chuckled weakly, "You expected me to throw myself at you like some tramp?"

"No!" he yelled with frustration. He took a deep breath, "Look, I'm not good at expressing myself-"

"You're telling me," I interrupted.

"Would you let me finish?" He raised his voice slightly. I sighed and looked up to meet his eyes. When I did, he seemed to freeze for a second. He looked flustered and angry. He stands there dumbfounded, trying to wrap his brain around what he wants to say, "Y/N, I really like you. I know I've been a huge jerk and I'm sorry about that. I just wanted to-"

I looked at him like he was insane, "Wait a second. You're not seriously saying this after what you did?"

He looked down at me in shock. He seemed overwhelmed, "I-I,"

"I can't believe this," I muttered to myself and turned to open the door.

"Y/N, wait!" I ignored him and was about to step inside until his hand wrapped around mine on the door knob and pulled the door shut. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't open it.

"Just stop!" I yelled. I could feel his grip loosen. Tears burned my cheeks as they streamed down my face again, "You think I want to be with some sick pervert like you? Stop pretending you like me to get in my pants!"

His grip on my hand became tighter than before. Gladio quickly pried my hand from the door knob and turned me to face him. He then cupped my face with both hands and pressed his lips against mine. So many emotions flooded through me. I felt angry, sad, hurt, and so many other negative feelings. To think that he would do this after everything else. I pushed him away with ease. His lips left mine, but his hands remained on my face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing you asshole?!", I yelled through a sea of tears, “Why are you trying so hard to sleep with me? Why me instead of some other girl?”

His face filled with sadness and disappointment, "Seriously? You still think that's what I'm trying to do?" I didn't know how to respond. What else would I think? He sighed, "I've never tried to treat a lady well, but that's because I've never had any true feelings for anyone before. It just... entertained me that random girls would be so ready to throw themselves at someone like me." 

I wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, but that last part made me stop resisting and listen to every word without interruption. Gladio swallowed hard as I stared into his deep brown eyes. He moved a strand of wet hair that had been stuck to my cheek behind my ear and then continued to caress my face. He gave me a sad, loving smile. It looked as if he were about to cry.

Gladio just stared at me, admiring my features, "But... you're different. You never threw yourself at me. You're tough, not just physically but emotionally too. And you were never afraid to mess with me." He froze for a moment. Like he wasn't sure how to put the rest of his thoughts into words.

The world disappeared around us as he spoke. However, I still felt so confused, “If you know I’m tough, then why won’t you let me handle myself?” I asked.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, almost like he was ashamed of himself. He opened his eyes and responded, “I’m just afraid of losing you. I feel so… protective of you.” 

It was like my heart fell out of my chest. I could almost feel his pain as he opened up to me, "I didn't plan on liking you this much, Y/N. But" he paused. I noticed the corner of his lips twitch downward like he was holding back tears, "You're beautiful E/C eyes, the sound of your voice, and that smile... that damn smile." He chuckled and for the first time it wasn’t condescending, "And your so cute when your angry. I couldn't help but fall for you and... I had no clue how to express it."

I stared up at him in amazement. I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing. It made me tear up more, but not from sadness this time. I started to feel a type of longing for him. His face fell, and he dropped his hands down at his sides, "I guess... I just wanted you to know the truth," he mumbled.

I don't know what I was thinking as he turned to go in his room. I felt so weak and emotional. I needed any kind of physical support I could get. He had teased me so much and now knowing how he truly felt, and that sweet and wonderful kiss peaked my frustration. I couldn't handle it anymore. I grabbed him by his open jacket and pulled him closer. He seemed shocked at first as my lips pressed hard against his. I kissed him passionately, showing how frustrated I was. At first, he kissed me back with the same amount of love as before. He then put his hands on my hips and pushed me away. 

"What are you doing?" He asked breathlessly.

I frowned, "You can't tease me like that every day, give me such a beautiful confession and not expect me to go crazy," I leaned in to continue, but he moved back slightly.

"Are you sure about this?" I didn't care anymore. I didn't care if he was being serious about his confession or not. Right now, I just wanted him.

"Just shut up and kiss me, Gladio" I sighed. He smiled weakly at me like he couldn't believe what was happening. He cupped my face again and we kissed each other with such heated passion.

I wanted that dream I had in Lestallum to finally be real. I reached for the door knob behind me and opened the door while still focusing on the kiss. He lifted me in his arms bridal style and carried me into the bedroom kicking the door closed behind him as he entered. Our lips never left each other. He laid me down on the bed and gently pressed himself against me. He brushed all of the wet stands of hair from my face as we kissed, and I began tugging his slipper leather jacket back from his shoulder. After finally catching on, he sat up above me and quickly pulled his jacket off his shirtless body. 

He came back down to touch my face with both hands again, but as his fingers grazed my cheeks he moved his hands down to my shoulders. He then started placing soft pecks on the corner of my mouth, moving his lips to my cheek, down my chin, and onto my throat. He stayed there for a while, kissing my throat, collarbone, and behind my ear. I giggled every now and then as his scruffy face tickled my neck. I could feel him smile into my neck every time I laughed. He's a much more romantic lover than I would have guessed.

Eventually, I felt him grip the hem of my shirt and assumed he wanted it off. He let go as I sat up. I reached for the sides of my shirt and began to pull it over my head. However, before my shirt reached my breasts he grabbed my hands to stop me. I looked at him in confusion, my hands still clutching the fabric. He shook his head, "I know this sounds... cruel, but we should stop. You look... vulnerable and I don't want to take advantage of you,"

I lowered my arms slowly and stared at him in disbelief, "So... You don't-"

He quickly reached for my shoulders and pulled me into a big bear hug, "No no no no no! Of course I do, baby girl. But I can't help but feel like you'll regret it tomorrow." I sighed into his bare shoulder knowing that he may be right. I definitely wanted this, but part of me wanted it because I felt vulnerable.

"Okay..." As he leaned back to kiss my forehead his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Sorry, hold on" he muttered as he pulled out the small metal tablet. He stared at the screen for a while and then stood up from the bed.

He reached out a hand to help me up while putting away his phone, "C'mon. We have to go see the others,"

I took his hand and raised an eyebrow at him, "Why?"

"Gotta plan for tomorrow," He brushed my hair with one hand and just held it on the back of my head as he admired my face, "they were really worried about you too." My face fell. I didn't even think about the others when I tried to hide from Gladio. It never occurred to me how they would react. I felt Gladio take my hand and squeeze it gently. I looked up at him and saw that he was giving me an apologetic look, "It's okay," he reassured. I nodded at him hoping that the others wouldn't be too mad at me as we made our way to the door that joined our two rooms.

Gladio smiled and then turned to open the door that joined our two rooms together. I followed behind and took deep breathes. He began opening the door and before he could say or do anything a figure pushed him aside and lunged at me. I screamed as the thing hit me, causing me to stumble back and hit the bed.

It held onto me tightly and squeezed all of the air out of me, "Y/N! You had us worried sick! I thought we'd never see you again!" Prompto continued to rattle on and on like a relieved mother. 

"Prompto... can't... breathe!" I choked.

He gasped like he had just remembered something and quickly let go of me to look at Gladio, "You! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Prompto pointed accusingly at him as I coughed and gasped for air. Gladio chuckled, "We're fine now, Blondie. Calm down"

Prompto stepped back from me to let me stand, "Oh okay, never mind then."

I stood up and saw that the other two had come in during all that nonsense, "Well, glad you guys aren’t mad at me," I laughed.

Prompto looked at me with a mixture of disappointment and sadness, “You think we’re not mad?” I was shocked by this sudden turn. I had never seen Prompto so serious, “You’re not just some chick that tagged along anymore, Y/N. You’re one of us now.”

Ignis spoke up, “We really do care for you, Y/N.” 

“You had us worried sick…” Noctis added quietly. I looked at all of them with guilt. I didn’t know they felt this way.

Ignis decided to change the subject slightly, "Anyway, please forgive me. Perhaps our little scheme was not such a good idea,"

I felt bad that he was apologizing. Especially after what I did. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, "It’s alright, Iggy. Everything turned out okay,"

"My apologies to you as well, Gladio. I intended no malice," Gladio laughed loudly and smacked Ignis roughly on the back, knocking the air out of him.

"You're fine, Specs! Nothing's gonna stop this bromance of four!" Gladio pulled the boys in a big hug. It warmed my heart to see such a strong friendship between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, yea. She wants you four to help her men evacuate the citizens. Then you guys need to fend off the empire as much as possible."

"What? Four people against an entire nation? Is she nuts?!" I asked. The others just grumble in agreement.

Ignis sighs, "Alright. So, I suppose we'll be waiting for Lady Lunafreya's speech, and then we evacuate the citizens to the furthest docks as fast as possible?" Noct nods. We discuss the plans further and then Gladio suggests we go to bed now to savor as much energy as possible.

I yawned, "Well, I guess I'll see you all in the morning,"

"Wait, baby." As I turned around Gladio pulled me in for a bear hug. My face planted into his chest, but I didn’t mind. I wrapped my arms around him as best I could, “I hope you don’t change your mind about me tomorrow morning.

I smiled, “I hope you don’t either, Gladio.”

He chuckled slightly, “I’ll never change my mind about you, baby girl.” My smile grew wider. This is the happiest I had been in days, but little did I know that this feeling wasn’t going to last.


	18. Chapter 18

"Noct. What do you think you're doing?" I hear Ignis's voice as I step into the boys' room. Gladio had woken me up earlier and then left me to get dress while him and the others waited. When I came in I saw Noct in black jeans, pulling a white t-shirt over his head.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a bored and uninterested voice.

"Where are your Prince Fatigues? You must present yourself better to the Hydrean." Ignis had his arms crossed, glaring down at the Prince.

"They're dirty. Would you rather I wear messy clothes?" He teased.

Ignis scoffs. "Fine. Never mind that." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out 5 small earpieces. He explains he had gone to buy them before waking us up. These were so we can communicate with each other in case we get separated.

We soon leave the hotel and get in a gondola to make our way to where Lunafreya's speech will be held. We end up having to get out to find another gondola that rides along a bridge higher up in the city. When we find it and leave all I can do is stare out across the tops of buildings as the boys continue to talk about Leviathan.

I can't help but feel strange, as if something bad is about to happen this time. It'll be pretty dangerous. The only reason Titan hadn't been too bad was because he had a giant meteor on his back and Ardyn had help us escape before we were killed. I doubt that will happen again.

"Hey. Y/N? You alright?" Prompto asked. His voice pulled me out of my trance.

I sigh, my breath unsteady, "Just nervous." I look back out at the city again.

Gladio sighed and I could feel him grip my hand in my lap. I look towards him. I’m glad that he hasn’t turned back into a jerk, "Don't worry. We’re all nervous. But you gotta stay cool. If a Glaive and a few Crownsguard are freaking out so will the citizens." Gladio said smoothly. I wondered for a second how people would know I was a Glaive, then stupidly remembered that I'm wearing the uniform today. I look at Gladio for a moment, unsure of how to calm myself. He reads my expression and begins to rub my back in a comforting and almost romantic gesture. "Just breathe. We'll be okay," he whispered gently. I breathe in and out carefully. This causes all the fear inside of me to drain away. I tighten the grip on his hand and I don't let go for the rest of the ride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We stand behind a large crowd of people as Noctis attempts to head towards the front, hoping to see Luna before we start. I stand with my hands behind my back, legs parted slightly, looking up as if I don't notice the business around me. This is how I was trained to stand during guard duty. It's strange pulling up all these drills I had been taught in training after spending months with some chill dudes.

The others stand a few steps apart from me on either side along with some of Camelia's men. They seem more relaxed, probably not having as much intense training as I had. I hear Prompto's voice in my earpiece.

"Noct, you in position?" His voice sounds a bit staticy.

Noct's voice goes through in mere seconds, "Yep," he sounds calm and relaxed, as though he's not about to take down a giant sea serpent alone.

"Don't forget the plan," Gladio reminds him sternly.

"You guys too,"

We wait a while longer until Lunafreya's voice rings loudly throughout the crowd. I can't see her because we are too far away. She starts off normally, greeting everyone and of course talking in tongues about darkness and legends.

"The ashes of Lucis..." Hearing that name makes my body tense up. I do not change my stance nor my facial expression, but I pay close attention to her words.

"A dream of peace twisted into a nightmare of death and destruction, claiming innumerable lives and leaving myriad souls to suffer." Her voice is full of sorrow as though she were talking about her own country.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see the boys glance at each other. As a stubborn soldier I refuse to give away to emotions while on the job. I keep my face hard and stern but feel one small droplet escape one of my eyes.

She continues to talk about gods and how she will awaken Leviathan to help bring the light back to our world. After her speech everyone is clapping and cheering loudly, calling out to Luna and thanking her for protecting everyone. The four of us then here loud rumbling above us. We look up to find loads of imperial engines.

"Already?!" Prompto yells.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Gladio growls. Ignis remains calm and brings his hand to his ear, pressing the button to turn on the mic on his earpiece.

"Noct, the empires here,"

"I can see 'em." his voice comes through in an annoyed whisper. Ignis instructs Noct to seek for a vantage point and Noct reminds us to look after the citizens.

"So... It begins" Prompto mumbles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We spend a long time ushering the citizens to a dock on the opposite side of the city where the rite will be held. We were supposed to get the citizens onto boats, but after a while all of the boats had been filled up. We had to keep the remaining citizens calm until the boats get back. The sky begins to quickly turn grey and the nervous feeling in my stomach intensifies. I'm separated from the boys and deep in the crowd of terrified citizens.

Eventually, the ground of the whole city trembles and everyone begins screaming. There is a thunderous roar that almost makes my eardrums bleed. I look up in the direction of the rite and can just barely see Leviathans head poking out above the buildings.

I hear Ignis speak in my ear, "Noct, the Hydrean has awoken."

"The civilians?" He asks.

"Almost there. We'll join you when we're done," Gladio answers.

I try to make my way out of the crowd with no luck. I press the button and speak, "Almost done? The boats are still gone. We might be stuck here for a while,"

Then one of Camelia's men adds to the conversation, "You four go on ahead. We can take care of the rest from here,"

"Are you sure?" Ignis asks.

"Yes, now get going!"

Ignis then tells Noct to hurry to the rite as the empire now have Leviathan surrounded. I try to make my way through the crowd again and look for the guys. I can't see any of them and now the clock is ticking. I start jogging and pushing through the crowd, looking around frantically.

I bump into someone hard and almost fall to my feet. I look up to apologize and see Ignis standing over me.

"There you are!" He grabs my hand and pulls me out of the crowd, "We must hurry before we are too late!"

We meet up with the other's and run towards the rite. We encounter many imperials and take them down as we go. Eventually we find one with one of the harpoon devises meant to immobilize Leviathan.

"Hey! I can use this to give Noct a hand!" Prompto states. The ground trembled again and we feel water raining down on us. I look around and see that Leviathan has raised a large water barrier to trap us.

Oh, crap.

"You're gonna need to hurry, Prompto," I said as he is already trying to work the devise.

"I'm on i- AAAAAAAH!" the devise turns on before he can finish.

Ignis speaks to Noct, "Noct! Prompto is headed your way."

"Noct, jump!" Prompto screams.

"What?"

"No time for questions!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed and things only grew more and more hectic. After rejoining with Prompto Leviathan flew into a fit of rage and the empire grew in size. We tried to make it over to the rite, but the amount of imperials made that almost impossible.

We continue sprinting throughout the city looking for more imperials. Suddenly, I felt a jolt of pain, starting from my chest spring throughout my entire body. This causes me to lose my footing and I fall to my hands and knees screaming. The others stop and turn towards me in fear.

"Y/N!" Prompto yells. I hold on to my chest whining and sucking the air through my teeth in pain. 

Gladio kneels in front of me and grabs my shoulders, "Are you okay? What's wrong?" He asks in a panicked voice.

I try to speak, but another jolt of pain burns me again and I scream louder. They flip me onto my back and lay my head in Gladio's lap. I start clawing at my chest to make the pain disappear. Ignis grabs one hand and Prompto grabs the other and they both forcefully pull my arms to the ground to keep me from hurting myself even more.

This pain is very familiar... It's just like the one I felt when I was made a Glaive. As though flames ran through my veins. A bright light blinds me just like it had that day and I hear Prompto gasp.

"What's going on?! Why is her chest glowing!" He yells.

"It's like light from the Crystal!" Ignis answers.

I scream louder and louder until my lungs feel like they're about to burst. I then hear footsteps running for us.

"What great timing," Gladio scoffs. The others stand up to fight and I feel Gladio place a kiss on my forehead, "Everything's gonna be alright, baby girl." I feel him lift my head from his lap and then gently place it on the ground. I reach up to grab him, not wanting him to leave me. They all left, ready to defend me.

Eventually, the pain suddenly disappears and I am left lying on the ground exhausted. I look up at them panting and see that they are severely outnumbered. I scrunch up my eyebrows in anger and summon my sword.

Please work!

I throw it in front of the guys, a blue light envelopes me and I find myself standing where I had thrown my weapon. I then extend my arms out and cast a lightning spell, electrocuting all of the soldiers.

I turn around to see the boys looking at me with wide eyes. I then extend my arms out to my sides and cast a healing spell on all of us. This helps my exhaustion slightly, but I still want nothing more than to pass out on the ground right then and there.

"Y-you... Warped?" Prompto stuttered.

"How?" Gladio asked.

Ignis pressed his glasses up his nose and thought for a moment.

"You all recall the legends of the Chosen King, correct?" We all nod. He continues, "It appears the Hydreans awakening has also awakened the late Kings."

I try to wrap my head around what he was saying, "So... King Regis... Is giving me his power from the grave?" I ask.

"You and all the other Glaives that are still alive," he answers.

I look down at my hands, feeling all of that power coursing through me. I feel slightly unnerved by this, but quickly shake it off.

"Come on. We need to find Noct."


	19. Chapter 19

We continue running though the city and end up running across an enclosed bridge when the real hell starts. The ground never stops trembling now and there are loud explosions everywhere. Ignis is running ahead of us. Gladio has his hand on my back trying to push me to run faster. Ignis stops and holds up his hand to his ear. I can hear is voice clearer through the device than in person.

"Noct, do you read me?" No response. We finally catch up and begin to panic.

"Do you know if he's okay?" Prompto asks.

"The trail should be over by now, right?" Gladio adds.

Ignis looks at us and shakes his head, "I can't tell a bloody thing from here. Let's make for the altar."

The ground shakes again and I fall to my knees, too tired to stay upright. I here Gladio shout, "Look out!" And then he grabs me by the collar and yanks me back.

I fall on my back and here a loud crash in front of me. The air is full of dust, but once it clears I see that the middle of the bridge has collapsed. I look around me, but only find Gladio and Prompto. We all stand up and look to the other side. Empty. We look down at the water bellow and see nothing but debris from the bridge. Ignis was gone. All we can do is look down in shock. I cover my mouth with both hands and look down with wide eyes.

"Wh-what do we do?" I ask.

"Nothing we can do. I'm sure Ignis is fine. We'll join up with him later." Gladio turns back to get off the bridge. I stare dumbfounded as to how he can just let his friend go like that. Is he not at all worried for his safety? We press on for a while and find that Leviathan has been replaced by Titan.

What the hell is going on?!

Finally, we all hear Ignis through our earpieces, "Prompto!"

Prompto jumps and then nervously presses the button to speak, "Iggy! We thought you were a goner." I breathe out a sigh of relief. I didn't want to lose a close friend.

"It'll take more than a little seawater." There is a long pause, "I'm more worried about Noct. I'll find a way to the altar, but I need you to keep the enemy distracted."

Gladio smiles, "You got it,"

"Alright. So how are we gonna draw an entire city of soldiers away from the altar?" Prompto asks. Both boys look at me, thinking I already had a plan. I think for a moment. The empire probably hasn't left because they want Noct... They'll do anything to reach him. If he were running around the city they'd surely follow him.

That's it!

"Quick! We need to find a dark cloak and head back to the hotel."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I barge into the boys' room, practically kicking the door down. I rummage through Noct's belongings, feeling a little weird for going through his personal stuff. I eventually find his Prince Fatigues and quickly put them on. He's a bit big for my size, but the pants had some ties on them that you would find in sweatpants, so after a few adjustments they fit just fine. I head out into the hallway to find the two waiting for me.

"Whoa! You look funny in Noct's clothes, Y/N" Prompto hands me a cloak we had taken from a shop on the way and I put it on as we head outside.

"Okay. All we need to do is find a group of soldiers and lure them as far away from the altar as possible. Don't engage any imperials until I give the okay! We must not confront them right away or all at once."

We head off in a random direction, searching for imperials. Eventually we find some in a small square. I motion for the others to find a place to hide and watch. I stay hidden behind some buildings taking deep breathes. I feel both nervous and tired, but I need to help Noct and Iggy. I put the hood of the cloak over my head and then summon a sword. I aim it right at one of the imperials shoulders and throw. I warpstrike the enemy and then quickly warp to the roof of a building ahead of me. I hear guns firing as I run for the next building. As I escape I notice some engines headed my way.

It's working!

I continue this strategy. Attacking soldiers in calm groups causing havoc everywhere I go. As I do this I hear Prompto's voice.

"Do you copy!" There is no answer. This scares me deeply. I jump down onto a balcony and duck my head so that I can't be seen.

"Ain't a hard question, Iggy. Do you copy- yes or no?" Gladio yells.

"Yes, I copy!" He answers. I begin to calm down.

"Then speak up next time!" He quickly loses his harsh tone and continues, "Look: I'm just as worried as you are, but we can't go losing our heads,"

There's a pause, "Yes... I suppose your right," I've never heard Ignis talk like this.

"It's gonna be okay. Just hang in there!" I encourage him.

"I will. Thanks." I look up to see an engine nearby, heading right towards me.

"Gotta run," I say to myself. I warp to another building and head for the docks. When I reach it, I look down to see that there are still a few citizens waiting to evacuate.

Crap!

I begin to panic and head in a random direction.

"Y/N, what are doing? I thought you were heading for the dock!" Gladio asks.

"There are still civilians there!" I answer.

"Crap..."

I continue until I reach a square with more soldiers.

"Looks like we're gonna have to do our business here. Get ready, fellas" I warpstrike a solider and begin fighting as hard as I can.

"We got held up somewhere else. Just hang on!" Prompto says.

"Would have been nice to know before I started!" I yell.

I continue my fight alone and manage just fine. After I'm done I hunch over and try to breathe. I'm still so exhausted, but I can't give up now. Suddenly a pair of hands grab me and turn me around. They reach for my neck and pin me to the ground.

"I got you now, Your Highness!" I recognize the voice as the man who had attacked us at that blockade so many months ago. I believe his name was Loqi? I try to fight until he reaches for my hood. He pulls it off and then looks at me in confusion.

"How?" He whispers. He turns towards the sound of footsteps behind him.

I then hear a voice over his own mic, "All units pull back and retreat at once. This is an order from the high commander himself!"

I quickly push him off and summon a dagger. I hold down one of his arms and he grabs my wrist with the other. I try to push the blade down with all my strength. Eventually, I push the hand away that I had been holding and quickly smack down the handle of my blade. It enters his neck and he stops putting up a fight. I remove my blade and stand up. The footsteps he had heard came from Gladio and Prompto. They look up at me rather shocked.

"Took you long enough," I pant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We tried to continue the strategy, but the imperials were fleeing quickly. As I stood atop one of the buildings I noticed one aircraft left behind. It was at the altar.

I press the button on my earpiece and speak, "Ignis? Do you read me?"

No response.

"You better not be losing it again," Gladio threatened.

Still no response.

"What the..." I whisper to myself. I continue to stare at the lone aircraft.

"Gladio. Prompto. There is only one aircraft left. It's at the altar. I think they're in trouble."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

Since we are nearby we head for the docks and board a small motorboat and head for the altar. As we get closer the aircraft leaves. Once we reach our destination we quickly run to the end of the altar shouting their names. We find both of them lying on the ground with Luna while Ravus is kneeling over Ignis. When we arrive Ravus picks up his sister in his arms. Blood stains her dress and she does not move. Her chest doesn't even lift up and down to signify breath. He leaves without acknowledging us, but I don't care. I run to the boys side and try to shake Noct awake. He looks completely fine, just unconscious. I then look over at Ignis who has severe burns on his face and arms. I stare at him in shock as Gladio kneels beside him. I look over to one of his hands. Stretched to one side. A single object lying on the ground beside him.

The Ring of the Lucii...

"No..." I whisper, "Ignis, no! You didn't put on that ring, did you?"

His eyes flutter open in pain. He looks at Noct with sad eyes, "Please... Forgive me." He pleaded. His eyes quickly fall shut.

"Ignis?" Gladio whispers and places a hand on his neck. "He's still alive. Let's get him to safety fast." Gladio picks him up and I help Prompto lift Noct. We head for the hotel as fast as possible.


	20. Chapter 20

"The hell if wrong with you?" Gladio demands. I look up from my seat on the train to see him standing over Noct. Noct had been very distant ever since he woke up a few days after the rite. Luna had died defending him, and I could tell it was taking a toll on his mental state. He sat at the opposite side of the train from all of us, alone.

He looks at Gladio, "What?"

"We're not stopping in Tenebrae," he said rudely. Noct hadn't even requested that. Where was this even coming from anyway?

"You need to grow up and get over it," My blood begins to boil. Gladio had been a complete jerk for a while now. I couldn’t understand why. Not only that, but he has been acting as if he never liked me. It killed me that he promised he’d treat me better, and now that has completely out the window.

I stand up from my seat to defend Noct, "Would you calm down? He just lost another loved one. The least you can do is give him a damn break," I try to keep my voice calm. I don’t want to anger him more. I just want him to stop. Gladio shoots me a cold glare.

"Besides, I am over it," Noct said, standing up, "I'm here, aren't I?" His voice is much louder now. The other passengers begin to stare at us.

Gladio grabs him by the collar, "Maybe when you're not too busy moping, you can look around and give a shit about someone worse off than you," he gestures to Ignis as he says this.

"Let go of me," Noct response calmly.

"How's that ring fit ya? You rather carry it around than wear it?" I snap.

I reach for Gladio’s hands to pull them away from each other, “I told you to st-!” Without even looking, Gladio shoves me away with enough force to make me fall. Prompto quickly grabs me as best he can and helps me up.

I stand there in shock that Gladio would do such a thing. He looks away from Noct and his face falls as he realizes that it was me that he pushed. I clench my jaw in anger and begin to storm off to the next train car.

“Y/N!” he calls out to me. But I ignore him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got off the train in silence. Prompto helps Ignis over to a bench near an elevator that will take us down to the tomb, while the rest of us separate to be alone. I lean over the edge of the wooden structure we're standing on, overlooking the horizon. The land looks a lot like Hammerhead in a way. I think about what has become of our little group. I had thought I was finally accepted, but now I don't know what to think. What did we do to piss Gladio off so much? Or… was it my fault? 

Eventually, Noct lets all of us know it's time. We talk to Ignis for a while and agree to let him join us. We were hesitant about it at first, but maybe it would turn out alright. That sadly wasn't the case. He managed just fine, but on occasion he would accidentally throw a dagger at one of us or would wonder off in the middle of a fight. We had a hard time guiding him while we fought. 

"Maybe you should take a break," Noct offered, trying to be polite.

"Was I in the way?" Ignis asked. There was a lot of sadness in his voice.

"N-no, you weren't. It's just..." He sighed and dropped the conversation there. We were mostly silent. We would only speak to each other in harsh tones and short sentences. The atmosphere was very tense around us. Eventually, as we headed further in a foul stench filled the air.

Prompto began to sniff around, "Ugh, something stinks around here," We continue on and quickly find that we are headed down a ramp like structure with a shallow pool at the bottom. I had figured that was the cause of the odor. When we reach the bottom, we find a small alcove filled with large purple sacks.

"What is this?" Prompto asks. Upon further inspection we see that the sacks are large eggs.

"Ugh, what the hell could have laid that?" I wondered out loud. Suddenly, the ground beneath us begins to shake. We hear the water shoot up behind us and find a large plant monster coming up from the earth. I almost vomit at the sight and smell of it.

"Is that a face?!" Prompto yells.

"Wh-what is it?" Ignis asks.

"Something real bad!" Noct answers.

The others charge in, but I feel sick to my stomach. I use a polearm to keep as much distance between me and the thing as possible. At one point it lets out a think green cloud from its large mouth. How did I not die instantly from the smell? I collapsed to the ground, vomiting from the stench, my eyes burning and tears pouring out of them. The smell was indescribable. Gladio then grabs my hand and pulls me away from the thing. We all hide behind a set of rocks and I tear my arm out of Gladio’s grasp in annoyance. It’s as if we were back at square one now. We try to think of something. We sit there in a panic for a while until I see a strange look on Ignis face. He then runs out back towards the monster.

"Iggy!" I call out.

"Don't worry, I have an idea." He then pulls out a magic flask from his jacket pocket. "If I may..." He quickly launched it at the creature and it happened to land in its giant mouth. A burst of flames sets the monster on fire and weakens it greatly. "Ah, as I suspected," Ignis says to himself. We continue to fight, holding off our questions. When the fight ends we inspect the eggs again.

"Maybe it's behind this," I say. I use my magic to burn the eggs and sure enough I was right. All goes as normal. Noct goes in, takes the weapon and we leave. However, Ignis stops us as we exit.

"A moment," he sounds pretty angry.

"Is everything okay, Iggy?" I ask.

"It bloody well isn't. And I won't suffer this pointless bickering in silence any longer," I look down at the ground in shame. Everyone is silent. Ignis sighs, "Let's be frank. My vision hasn't improved, and probably won't." He pauses, "Yet, in spite of this, I would remain with you all... To the very end,"

It was a very touching and heartfelt moment, until Gladio had to go and instantly ruin it, "Sorry, but I object. War is a matter of life and death."

"But, we'll be there!" Prompto speaks up. I can tell he's tired of all this too.

"It's not about us looking after him!" Gladio raised his voice.

"Oh yea? And what is it about then, Gladio?" I cross my arms. He glares at me.

"Besides, he should be free to choose," Prompto adds.

"There's more to it than just what he wants,"

I scoff, "Typical,"

"Excuse me?" He asks. Gladio stares at me as if he’s about to explode.

"You heard me! Of course, this isn't about what Ignis wants. You're just a selfish prick who only cares about himself!” I couldn’t hold back anymore. It was as if everything I have ever wanted to say to him since the day we met was flowing out of me.  
“Y/N!” Gladio raised his voice, but then stopped for a moment. He took a deep breath before continuing in a softer tone, “Don’t. Push me. I’m not being selfish,”

“Like hell you’re not! You're telling Noct to think about others, but you can't even do the same! Quit being such a stubborn bastard and think about how we must feel!" I didn’t give a shit if I was going too far. He needed to hear this.

I could visibly see something in Gladio snap, “How the fuck am I being selfish?! He’s gonna get himself killed!”

"I know full well!" Ignis interrupts, "I won't ask you to slow down! If I can't keep up I will bow out!" He yells. I don’t take my angry eyes off Gladio and neither does he. We all fall silent as the tension around us thickens. "Gladio, Noct will take his rightful place, but only once he's ready," Gladio seems to ignore him for a second.

He turns around and scoffs, "Have it your way. We're taking a big risk. We better all be ready," he then stomps off in the direction we came and we all follow one by one.


	21. Chapter 21

We decide to head for Gralea, the Captial of Niflheim. We plan to take back was ours and investigate a certain mystery. I sit with Noct and Ignis as they talk about Altissia. I mostly ignore it and look out the window.

"Is someone else there?" I turn behind me to see Gladio headed our way and roll my eyes. Noct answers before I can.

"Where'd he go anyway?" Ignis explains that Gladio had left to find a certain man on the train. It turns out Ignis over heard him talking about longer nights.

"Hey, captain. Mission complete," Gladio tells Ignis.

Noct continues to press further about what Ignis had heard. Apparently, the nights have grown longer while the days grow shorter. It was happening back in Lucis too, but it has just now gotten noticeably worse. Ignis wanted to figure out what was going on, because if this continued then the demons would be out much longer, and the world could be in danger. Ignis asks if I'd like to go with him and Gladio to interrogate the man, and I begrudgingly agree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had been at the back of the train for a while now. We decided to wait out in the engine room and talk to the man, but he couldn't provide any information we didn't already know. We had just about given up when a loud explosion shook the train, causing it to stop.

"What the hell was that?" Gladio asks.

"Maybe an accident? Let's head to the front of the train." I say as I leave the engine room.

As we enter the next train car we see people running in a panic. The man ends up running ahead of us as we contemplate what to do. I snap out of my confusion and continue on through the train. We enter into one of the lounge cars when another explosion sets off. I fall to the ground as shattered glass from the windows rain down on me. I cover my face to keep the sharp pieces away from my eyes and mouth.

I look up to see an MT climbing inside, "No freaking way," I mumble. I quickly warpstrike the soldier in the head before he could do anything.

"Come on, we gotta hurry!" Gladio tries to usher Ignis to the next car. We enter to find a large whole blown out of the wall. I run up and look out to find Noct and Prompto fighting the MTs to protect the train.

"You two get to the front of the train and keep the passengers safe. Us three will take care of these scrape heaps." Before they can respond I throw my blade at an MT coming behind Noct. Once I warp I dig the blade deeper into the robot to make sure its deactivated.

"Y/N!" Suddenly, I'm knocked to the ground and there is an explosion in front of me.

The weight on top of me is lifted and I see that Prompto is the one that tackled me. He gives me a hand and explains, "The MTs can self-destruct!" I look down at my feet and see that the robot I had killed was charred black. I look around to see more coming.

"They're not gonna stop this train! Let's go!" We continue fighting off the imperials as they come. They seem to be ignoring us though. They only care about the train. We have no idea where they're coming from, but they just keep on coming.

Soon the train starts up again, "Y/N! Noct!" We both look to see Prompto calling out to us from the hole in the wall. We both warp onto the roof of the train. We make our way to the car with Prompto inside and meet him on one of the open cars without any walls. He looks up at the sky and points at the army of imperial engines, "Guys! Do something!" I notice something strange about his voice. He didn't sound cowardly like he usually did. He sounded frustrated and demanding.

I decided to brush it off in the moment. I make eye contact with Noct and we know instantly what to do. I guess this shared power helps us read each other like a book. We both nod and point warp to different engines. We wait on top of them until we see them begin to open one by one. I warp to the opening of another engine and find loads of explosive MTs inside. I stab one of them straight through the chest and quickly warp to another engine. The MT explodes, and the engine begins falling down away from the train. We continue this until every engine is down. After the last one I warp back to the train. I manage to land on an open cart near the front of the train and quickly head inside through a small escape door on the roof. I find Ignis and Gladio in a car full of scared citizens.

"Is everyone alright?" I ask.

Gladio lets out and exhausted sigh, "Yea, where are the other two?" 

"I guess you can say we separated during the fight. They should be somewhere on the train though," We choose to wait in an empty car, not wanting to be surrounded by other people. We wait and wait, but the boys don't show.

Eventually, Ignis' phone rings. He takes it out of his pocket and hands it to me to hit answer. When I do I hand it back, "It's Noct," I tell him.

He nods, "What's wrong?" He asks.

"..." Nocts voice is frantic and hysterical.

"Stay calm," his tone is slightly harsh. He usually talked like this to talk some sense into us, "I'm just as concerned for Prompto as you are." Gladio and I are taken aback by this. What happened to Prompto? Ignis goes on to explain that stopping the train will put the passengers in danger. Stopping the train? Did he fall off? What was going on?

Ignis makes a plan with Noct to drop the passengers off in Tenebrae and then figure something out later. He hands me the phone to hang up and I ask what's going on, "It seems the chancellor is up to the same tricks. He has fooled Noct into pushing Prompto off the train." It's a lot to take in. What the hell was wrong with this sick chancellor? I begin to panic like Noct. We enter a tunnel and then the train shakes once again, and we quickly look out the windows.

"More imperials?" Gladio asks. My eyes widen as I see daemons crawling along the side of the train. We are all speechless. They seem to be heading for the roof for some reason. We start hearing footsteps on the roof of the train and realize that Noct must be up there.

Crap.

It isn't long until we reach the end of the tunnel and we see something strange. Walls of water just like in Altissia during the rite. I put two and two together and realize what's happening. We are close to Tenebrae now, known as the floating continent.

"What is that idiot thinking! He's gonna wash this train off the rails!" We watch in horror as Leviathan lunges out of the waves. She screeches and sends small jets of water at us. I put my arms around Ignis and pull him to the floor. We all brace for impact, waiting to be knocked off and fall to our deaths. However, this doesn't happen. The train trembled, but nothing more. We hesitantly look up again to see Leviathan leaving.

Huh, guess we lucked out.


	22. Chapter 22

"Well, look who's here," Noct and I are sitting on the ground as the other two look down at us. We turn towards the voice coming from behind us.

"Aranea," Noct says. He turns back around and sighs, "Guess we've got you to thank for this mess?"

Aranea scoffs, "You wanna know who to thank? Come with me," She turns back around and walks away. We stand up to follow her and she looks over her shoulder at us. She looks taken aback when she sees Ignis.

"What happened to your eye?"

Ignis stumbles on his words trying to think of what to say, "Oh, um, just a flesh wound."

"Can you see?"

He's silent for a while, "I'm... afraid not."

"That sucks," We follow her to a small grassy space with Magitek engines everywhere. She explains that she has left the army for the search and rescue business.

"You mentioned being part of the relief effort," Ignis starts, "We have a favor to ask,"

"Ask away," Ignis requests that Aranea take care of the passengers while we ride the train to Gralea. She agrees and introduces us to two guys who will drive the train for us.

She then tells Noct that some woman that worked for Lunafreya wanted to speak with him. I begin to walk off in a random direction when a voice stops me, "And where are you going?"

I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. I didn’t want to start another fight. I turn towards the gruff voice and spoke calmly, "I’m going for a walk," 

I continue walking, but he places a hand on my shoulder to stop me, "We don't got time for that. We're leaving as soon as they replace some of the train cars."

I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose with my thumb and pointer finger, "Look, Gladio. I just need to be alone for a bit," These past few days have been too much for me. We've lost so much… including each other.

"You can be alone on the train," his grip gets tighter on my shoulder.

I glare at him and pry his fingers off of me, "I just need a minute, alright. Just back off,"

He pulls his hand away and scoffs at me, "Fine. Do whatever you want," he turns around and stomps off before I can respond. I can see Ignis look slightly pained as he listens to us fight.

I quickly turn around and stomp off as Ignis calls out for us both. It was really shitty, but I just couldn't take this. I begin walking up a large hill covered in blue flowers. Once I've reached the top of it I stand there panting in anger. The tears begin to fall and finally I look up at the night sky and scream as loud as I can. When I'm finished I fall to my knees and cry even more. We lost Insomnia, the Crystal, Lucis, Lunafreya, and now Prompto. When would this madness end? 

I stare off into the distance wishing I could disappear. What was even the point? Four people can’t stop the empire alone and bring back daytime. And even if we could, we hate each other too much to be a team now. There’s no point in continuing this journey…

It isn’t long until I am pulled out of my thoughts by a buzzing in my pocket. I pull out my phone and see a notification lit up on my screen.

Noct: We're getting ready to leave. Meet us at the station.

I sigh and stand up as I put my phone back in my pocket.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stare out the window of the train car. It's so dark out, all I can see is snow. We are in the middle of a blizzard.

"We must be approaching the Glacian's cadaver." Ignis says.

"Won't be a blessing if all we got's a body," Gladio responds.

We planned on receiving Shiva's blessing and then heading for the Capital where we will hopefully find Prompto and the Crystal. It's a long and mostly silent train ride. I sit next to Ignis the whole time, but I don't make any effort to be affectionate. Neither one of us was really in the mood for that.

Eventually, the train screeches to a stop and we hear a voice over the intercom, "Attention, you may have noticed we've stopped, as for the cause, outside, ya think?" We took that to mean he wanted us to check it out ourselves.

I sigh, "I really hope this will be quick and easy," 

We stepped outside into the freezing cold to see the Glacian's body. She looked like she was reaching out for help and her head was turned towards us.

"Well, that's... Creepy," I mumbled. As I'm shivering from the cold I look over to see that the train has frozen over. I then hear Gladio scoff. I look towards the front of the train to find daemons surrounding it.

"Ugh! Can't we catch one break?" I whine.

We fight the daemons off just fine, but we have no idea how to thaw out the whole train. Ignis and Gladio get inside to speak with the conductors while Noct and I hang back. I desperately just want to go inside and be somewhat warm.

Then Gladio's voice gets our attention, "Y/N. Noct." We look over to see him sticking his head out of a car door. "You better get in here. Something's not right," We make our way over to the door and we catch a glimpse of Ardyn headed for the next car.

"You!" Noct yells as he quickly climbs onto the train. Before he can get to the next car I grab his shoulder to stop him.

He gives me a confused look, "Let me go first." I explain, "Don't want you getting hurt," he sighs in frustration and begrudgingly lets me pass him.

When we enter the car, there is a chill breeze seeping under the next door.

"What the..." I mumble to myself.

We creep our way to the next car carefully, having no idea what to expect. When we try to enter we are both blown back by a strong wind. We try to push our way through, blocking our faces as our entire bodies are encased in a thin layer of ice.

I squint pass this chill wind and just barely make out an ominous figure standing perfectly still, as if he were completely unfazed. I try the best I can to grab on to the passenger seats and pull myself against the wind. It isn't long though before my legs start giving in to the cold.

Unable to move, all I can do is slowly fall to my knees, "Y/N?" I hear Noct speak up behind me.

Instinctively, I wrap my arms around myself to stay warm, but it's no use. I can feel my eyelids fall from exhaustion and as they do they begin to freeze shut. I then fall over on my side barely missing the passenger seats. Just before I finally pass out I can hear Noct stepping over me and yelling.

"Stop! Stop damn it! Where is he? Where's Prompto?"


	23. Chapter 23

It doesn't feel long before I slowly begin to wake up. At first, I refuse to full open my eyes out of habit, until I remember why I had fallen asleep. I try to sit up quickly and open my eyes, but it’s difficult.

I hear a voice struggling to call out to me, “Hey. Wake up.” 

My body felt so stiff. I start by trying to move my fingers. It’s difficult at first, but in just a few seconds I can feel my fingers start to twitch. I continue to move parts of my body one by one until I am finally able to lift my head off the train floor.

I hear Gladio grunting as he tries to stand up, “The hell happened?” I push myself off the floor in a sitting position and a surge of pain moves up to my head.

“I saw the Glacian,” Noct explained, “Don’t worry she’s gone now.” I feel slightly annoyed. Did she really have to freeze us?

“And Ardyn?” I ask as I stand up.

Noct stands up as well and Gladio helps Ignis to his feet, “He’s gone too. We’re safe” It was silent for a second, “Why don’t you guys check on our drivers?”

“Got it,” Gladio responded. He put his hands on our backs, “You two okay?” Ignis and I nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After making sure our drivers were okay, I decided to take a nap in one of the tiny bedrooms in the lounge. However, it isn’t long before I am woken up by the trains screeching tracks. I throw myself off the bed in annoyance and stomp out into the small hallway. 

Just as I exit the room the boys enter the train car, "What is it now...?" I mumble trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"That’s what we’re gonna figure out," Gladio answered.

Before I could respond the glass wall shatters, just as it had when the train was attacked. Before Prompto had gone missing. We block our faces from the broken glass and look up to see Goblins had broken in this time.

"Let's get to work," Noct says as he reaches his hand out for a weapon. However, nothing appears, "What the..."

"What's wrong?" Gladio asks.

"My weapons... They're stuck," Noct answers. The Goblins quickly charge us and Gladio and I quickly push Ignis and Noct to the next car.

"Run!" I yell as I try to summon a weapon. But just as I feared, nothing happens, "Dammit! My weapons are stuck too!"

"What do we do?" Noct asks in a panicked voice.

"Let's head for the freight car and trade the train for the Regalia." Ignis answers. We run as fast as we can from the daemon horde until we have reached the back of the train. Noct and I quickly jump in the front seats while the other two are in the back.

"Gun it!" Gladio shouts. Noct slams on the gas with full force and we head out the back of the train, which has now opened up. Noct turns the Regalia around towards Gralea. We are just outside the gates to the city.

"Where are we now?!" Ignis yells.

"We're on the train tracks!" The sound of Noct's voice makes him sound like a frightened child.

As we approach the gate we look around to see crashed trains, fire, and other debris. Normally, I'd wonder what the hell happened here, but I was too preoccupied with our current problem. Eventually, we can see the gate slowly closing in the distance.

"It's closing, floor it!" Gladio instructed.

We start moving dangerously fast and as we pass through the gate we are hit with an explosion and the Regalia comes to a sudden stop. I sit there with my hand on the glove box, trying to catch my breath after having a heart attack.

"That's all she's got," Gladio said.

"It'll do," Noct steps out of the car and the rest I'd us follow.

When I'm outside I can feel raindrops hitting my skin. I turn to close the car door and see the sad sight. The Regalia looked damaged beyond repair. I walk alongside Ignis and Gladio. We aren't sure where to go, we just continue on the train tracks until we noticed that Noct wasn't following us. We turn to see him staring back at the Regalia.

We stand there patiently, knowing that that car held a lot of memories of his father. Soon, he slowly turns back around and follows us with his head down. It isn't long until we reach a strange pile of crashed trains with a small opening underneath one of the cars.

I hear a sound of creaking metal and realize that the car is slipping. I look around for another opening, but this is the only one. "Let's move quickly before this thing falls." I say.

Just as Noct passes through the opening and Ignis follows the car falls. Gladio and I quickly grab both Ignis' arms and pull him back before he's crushed.

"What happened?" Ignis asked.

"We just got separated from Noct," I answer. I look up at the train car and try to look for a way to climb.

"Hey, Gladio," he looks towards me with his arms crossed, "Give me and Ignis a boost. We'll climb up the train."

I’m glad to see that he doesn’t give my attitude. Gladio just pushes me up first with ease without question. For Ignis it takes some teamwork to get him up. I place Ignis' cane in his hand as Gladio comes up in his own.

"Where do we go now?" Ignis asked.

I look around and Noct is nowhere to be found. "Noct must of went ahead on his own." I continue to look around. There are a lot more train cars, but some of them are open, creating a path ahead. I then notice Goblins dancing around inside of them, "I see a way, but we'd be running right into the daemons."

"Perhaps I can be of service," We turns towards the voice. Ardyn steps out of a train car below.

"What the hell are you doing here," Gladio growls.

Adryn chuckles creepily, "Why, I come bearing gifts." he snaps his fingers and a bright light flashes in our hands. A sword has appeared in my hands, while the other two had their signature weapons.

"See? Gifts. I believe a thank you is in order," Ardyn says as though he were an innocent child.

"For what? Another one of your stupid tricks?" Gladio responds angrily. I want to calm him down, but he’d probably just get angry with me.

Ardyn throws up his hands and begins to speak as if there were tears in his eyes, "Here I am, helping for a change, but I can see I'm not wanted."

He then heads back inside the train before any of us can respond. We're hesitant at first, but we jump down and follow him into the train car he had been in. As we go forward, Ardyn is nowhere to be found. Just a bunch of daemons in his place.

"So, if we can conjure our weapons again does that mean Noct can too?" Gladio asked us.

"For some reason I kinda doubt that," I respond.

"Agreed. The chancellor doesn't seem quite that generous," Ignis added.

We continue until we find an exit out of the train. We then find a staircase right outside going up into a large building in front of us. We quickly head in out of the rain.

As soon as we step inside we hear a women's voice coming from a radio nearby. She warns everyone in Gralea to evacuate do to some dangerous situation. I wonder what could have happens here. Maybe the daemons are much worse here than in Lucis.

We continue, and it seems my suspicious where right. The further in we go the worse the daemons get. I think back to a conversation we had with Aranea back in Lucis. She had mentions that the empire used daemons as weapons. Maybe their little experiments didn't take to kindly to that.

We eventually find an elevator and head down. When we reach some random floor it almost looks like some kind of bunker. We listen for any noises, but its dead silent. We walk through the long corridors with caution until a familiar voice appears on the intercom, "Right this way, lady and gentlemen."

We hesitate but keep going as he says. It isn't long till he speaks up again, "Keep going. A little closer," I can't help, but notice something dark about his voice. It was different than before.

Eventually, one of the walls beside us begins to move, revealing a hidden hallway. Gladio extends his hand to stop us and I grab Ignis' arm. Gladio proceeds first, slowly before motioning us to follow.

We continue to follow our "guide" until we reach some type of operation room. There are all sorts of mechanisms in front of a large wall of panels. Upon further inspection they appear to be monitors for security cameras.

"Perhaps we may find something to help us find the others?" Ignis suggested after we explained where we were.

"I'm more of a low-tech kind of guy. Do you know how to work this stuff, Y/N" Gladio asks.

I inspect one of the control panels for a bit before answering, "Possibly." I start pushing random buttons until I pull up a list of security camera recordings. The list is wiped clean.

"Looks like someone erased all the data," I whisper. I continue looking just to be sure and eventually I find a singular file.

"Wait, there's still one file," I open the file to play it and it displays on one of the panels on the wall.

The recording shows Ravus speaking to the leader of the empire about the ring of the Lucii. It's a bit boring at first, but Ravus begins to talk back, stating that Noct is the one true king.

This comes as a surprise to me considering how hostile he had been to Noct before. The leader is then outraged and summons daemons to dispose of Ravus. As he fights the off he is pushes off of a railing and falls to the next floor.

After he lands he tries to stand to his feet. He is clearly injured. Ravus then looks up at a figure walking towards him. It's Noctis.

Ravus quickly pulls out a sword but does not attempt to attack or anything. When Noct approaches him Ravus begins talking quickly, "At last, you've arrived Noctis"

Noctis says nothing. There isn't even any emotion in his face. Something was off with him.

"As blood of the Oracle," Ravus holds the sword out to Noctis as best he can, "I present you your fathers glaive." I had remembered hearing that Ravus was holding on to the Kings sword, but I had no idea that he was protecting it for Noctis.

"Now go forth, my king. Shine your light onto the world," Noctis reaches his hand out slowly to grab the weapon, but suddenly, he summons a weapon of his own. It looked the same as his father's sword, but it was red. He slices at Ravus's chest and he falls back, dropping the sword.


	24. Chapter 24

Noctis bends down to pick up the sword. He walked towards Ravus's body and stabbed the glaive into his metal arm, "Spare me your sycophancy," his voice was ominous, almost like...

He turned around and smirked at Ravus's dead body. He kneels down on one knee and gets right up in his face, "I've indulged your false heroism for far too long."

His voice suddenly changed into that familiar, charming, and sick voice, "You tried to save the world in my stead, but it wasn't enough. The Crystal chose me- not you."

He then stood up and as he did his form suddenly changed. Noctis was replaced with Ardyn.

He reached into a pocket in his jacket and threw a few papers on the body. He then began heading out the door and mumbled, "Rejection hurts, doesn't it?"

The camera cuts to static and then shuts off.

"Was that Noct?" Ignis asks

Gladio crosses his arms, "No, just that scumbag chancellor posing as him."

I start clenching and unclenching my fists, and then I realize something.

"How did the chancellor use the crystals magic? ...and what did he mean by, 'the Crystal chose [him]'?"

All of us remain silent for a moment, "Could be another one of his tricks," Gladio finally answered. I don't respond. I'm not quite sure if I believe it was a trick.

We continue on in silence to an elevator that will lower us down further. When it opened we were in a wide space filled with boxes and other storage containers.

"Some sort of cargo bay?" I ask.

"Perhaps the Crystal passed through here at some point in time," Ignis responses.

"Could be stored somewhere nearby..." I whisper mostly to myself.

We hear a loud noise and look on to see a large gate across the room opening up. Probably the chancellor leading the way again. Before we can approach it, an Iron Giant climbs out of the ground.

"What is it?" Ignis calls out.

"An Iron Giant!" I answer.

"Do we fight?" Gladio asks?

"We are two men down. This is too big a risk."

"Then we make a run for it," I said. We try to run around the monster and to the open gate. Gladio stayed back a moment to stun the enemy, giving us a head start. There was a part of me that wanted to help him, but then Ignis would be alone.

The giant quickly regains its composure and stomps toward us. We try to run fast and once we've reached the next room we look around for a switch to close the gate. I find a big red button and big green button. I hit the red one as fast as I can, but the gate is very slow. I start to smash the button hoping it would speed things up.

"Come on. Come on!"

The giant reaches out to grab one of us, but the gate closes on its arm. It tries to pull its arm out but fails. In anger he begins swing it around to hit us.

Gladio then steps in front of us and summons his sword, "Get to the elevator!" I turn to see a large elevator in the middle of the room, much bigger than the others we've ridden. I grab Ignis' arm and we run for it, Gladio following behind as he keeps looking back at the gate. When we're all on the elevator Gladio smashes one of the buttons and we quickly descend to the next floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We continued on through the maze of corridors until we made it to another control room. Unlike the last room all of the panels are turned on and they all show the same image. The Crystal held up in chains behind some type of laser wall.

"It’s the Crystal. We must be close." I said. We looked through the control panels until we found something promising. Ignis then walked me through how to disable to the laser wall.

"Thieves cannot escape the hands of justice!" We turned back towards the daemonic sound. Some type of weird, slimy looking dragon thing was speaking to us. "The Crystal is mine... Never shall I lose my grip!" 

The way he's talking. Almost as if he were a ruler. Could it be the leader of the empire? But... That would be impossible, right? The beast charges us and Gladio quickly parries it with his sword. The thing growls and disappears in a thick cloud of black smoke.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

It's silent for a moment until Gladio speaks up, "Why does it want the Crystal? I thought they were afraid of it,"

"It may be like a moth to a flame," Ignis answers, "We must keep our guard up and find Noct and Prompto before that thing does first."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

We continued through the halls a while longer until another secret door opened up to reveal a large staircase going up.

"What's this?" Ardyn's voice comes over the intercom again, "I think he's stopped breathing." We look at each other frantically. Who is it? "Why don't you go see for yourselves?" We quickly sprint up the stairs hoping this is just a sick joke. We stop at the top of the stairs at an open door.

"If that son of bitch even-" Gladio's rant is cut off by Ignis.

"Wait. Can't you hear that?" We all fall silent and listen. Nothing.

"Hear what?" Gladio asks.

Ignis steps through the door, "Noct's voice. I heard it clear as day." He pauses for a moment, "This way- follow me!" He runs ahead and Gladio and I quickly follow. It's strange. Somehow, I see Ignis running through these halls just fine. Maybe he's developing a sixth sense to replace his eyes.

As we run we call out to Noct, "Noct is that you?" Ignis calls out.

"Can you hear us?" Gladio asks.

"Guys?" We hear him yell. We quickly follow the voice and we find another control room. This time there is a side door blocked of by an electric door. We peer inside and see Noctis trapped inside with another electric door inching behind him.

"Y/N! There must be a kill switch on one of these panels. Find it." Gladio yells. I nod, and then start scan through the different panels in a panic. Eventually, I find a panel that looks promising and begin pressing buttons. The electricity cuts off and the doors open. Noct runs out of the room and falls on his butt in the process. He sits there trying to catch his breath.

"The hell'd you get here?" He asked through short breaths.

"You're welcome?" Gladio responsed and held out his hand to help him up.

"Thanks," Noct says like a child and takes his hand.

"Reunited with your retainers at last. How very touching," Noct looks up at the ceiling looking for the intercom with a scowl on his face.

"You alright?" I ask.

"That sick bastard's been screwin' with my head. Haven't you heard all the things he's said?"

"N-no?" I respond, "He talked to us too, but nothing crazy. Maybe he was only speaking through different speakers?" Noct starts running his hands through his hair, distressed.

"What's wrong?" I asked again.

"Those MTs," he starts, "Th-there not robots like we thought,"

We all look at him in confusion, "I found out... Their human. Th-they made artificial humans a-and filled them with daemon energy!"

I breathe in and the air gets stuck in my thought. I try to process what he's saying as I think about how many MT's we had killed.

"We killed so many of them..." He whispers.

I shake my head, "You didn't know. Come on. Let's go find Prompto," I place a hand on his back and we guide him throughout the rest of the keep.


	25. Chapter 25

Finally, after hours of searching we find Prompto, locked into a stand in a cross position at the end of a corridors or cells. Noctis quickly runs to his side when he sees this and releases Prompto from his confines.

Prompto falls to the ground as if he were sleeping, but he lands on his hands and knees, "Are you alright?" Noct asks as he kneels down to look at his friend.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Noct." His voice sounds tired and sad. He sits up straight and I can see he's covered in bruises and his face was cut up.

"Tell me," he says, "where you worried about me?"

Noct looks taken aback, "Of course I was!" He stutters, "What kind of question is that?"

Prompto smiles sadly, "Of course," he pulls himself up to his feet and looks down at Noct, "That's why you came like I believed you would."

Noct stands up, "Prompto..."

"That's why I told myself I couldn't die. Not until I could see you and hear you tell me I'm not a fake- that I'm the real me..." The last part of his sentence comes out in a sob. I wonder what he means by that. I want to ask, but something tells me it’s not the right time.

"I'm sorry," Noct apologizes.

Prompto smiles more, "Don't be. Everything's alright now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Noct, do you hear that?" Ignis asks.

"Hear what?"

"I've heard this sound before- on the train just before your weapons failed you." Ignis walks ahead of us to lead us to the source. Must be his super hearing again. He leads us to a wide space with a round room in the middle, closed off. I recognize it as the room Ravus was in when he was talking to his leader.

"It's here,"

"This thing?" Noct asks.

I inspect this keypad with a scanner to see if I can open the door.

"I don't think we can get in," I said.

"There's a way," we all look at Prompto who's standing nervously off to the side.

I step aside as Prompto slow walks up to the keypad. He looks down at his right hand and then hesitantly lifts it up. I assume he knows the code or something, but instead he holds the back of his wrist up to the scanner. There's a small beep and the door opens.

"So, MT's..." He starts, "They've got those code prints... Just like I do," I'm slightly taken back, but I don't show it. I wonder if the others feel the same.

"Do they? Never looked," Noct speaks casually. Prompto has a pained expression, "Yea... So, as it turns out... I'm one of them," it's strange. Something like this should have shocked us all, but somehow, it's as if we all knew already.

"You guys are like... the only friends I've ever known," he scratches the back of his head nervously, "I just hope that things can stay the way they were,"

"Whatever, who cares where you were born?" Noct answers naturally. Prompto looks at him confused.

"I don't see you turn against us. Not now or ever." Ignis answers.

"Besides," I add, "Since when does where you're from matter to you?"

Noct chuckles, "Yea, you never once treated me like a prince."

Gladio chuckles, “He’s got you there,” The sound of his laugh makes me smile. I can’t remember the ;ast time I heard that…

"Never so much as a 'highness'" Ignis adds.

We all start to head inside one by one, "Come on, crown citizen. You're one of us, right?"

"Unless you'd rather not be," Ignis says. We enter the small room to find a throne with the emperor's robes and a giant machine off to the side.

"This is it," Ignis states. Noct summons his father's sword and stabs it in to the machine. Some of the lights go out and everything is silent minus the sparks coming from the machine.

"Soooooo... Did it work?" Prompto asked.

Noct holds out his hand in front of him, "Moment of truth," he whispers and then a sword appears in his hand, different from his fathers.

"It worked!" Prompto says.

I also try summoning other weapons besides the one Ardyn gave me. I manage to summon my polearm again.

"Mine are back too,"

"Alright, we're back baby," Gladio responses. We head for the exit of the small room and are immediately ambushed by daemons. We go to summon our weapons when Noct holds up a hand to stop us.

"I got this," he steps outside the room and then holds a hand in the air. Something in his hand is shining brightly. He then warps back into the room and it looks like a black hole rips through the space where he was standing. We all cover our faces and back up as a strange wind begins pulling in all of the daemons. Then the black hole implodes before vanishing.

"So," Prompto starts as we hesitantly uncover our faces, "I see you decided to rock the ring."

"I had to. No weapons. No friends. No choice really,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After searching for the Crystal for a while we find ourselves in a large room that looks a lot like a plane hangar. There is a large door on either side of the large room. As we decide which one we should go through one of them opens. At first, we assume it's our "guide" helping us until something starts limping towards us.

It's Ravus, half of his body is replaced by a black sludge, some of it spilling from his eyes and mouth. He reaches his good hand out to us, "Kill me... End it..." His voice sounds daemonic. Ardyn must have filled him with daemon energy. 

He seems slow at first, it's as we fight he ends up being way faster and stronger than we had expected. We try our hardest, but he doesn't appear like he's going to go down anytime soon. I start feeling too tired to keep going. I start taking in my surroundings and get an idea once my eyes land on a ledge high up on a wall. 

I quickly warpstrike up to the ledge and call out to the four boys, "Guys! I need you to lead him away from me!" The boys do as I ask and begin running in the opposite direction. After Ravus has walked far enough I summon a dagger.

I hesitate at first, "Sorry, Ravus."

I throw the dagger just barely missing his head and warp onto his shoulders causing him to fall. I then grab him by his hair and pull his head back. I take my dagger and stick it into his neck. He begins gargling on the same black sludge on his body. I pull hard from one side of his neck to the other. I sit there for a moment, not sure what to think or do.

"Look alive! Company!" Gladio yells. The gate opens again and a swarm of daemons rush through. I stand up on my feet quickly and get to work. After I manage to kill a few daemons on my own I hear the boys yelling.

"Where not getting anywhere!"

"And they just keep coming!" I look around and see that the number of daemons has increased. We all begin to panic as we fight harder.

"Noct, you must go on alone!" Ignis calls out.

"What?"

"If you can obtain the Crystals power, we may yet be able to turn the tide,"

"What about you guys?"

I turn to yell in a random direction after slicing through a Goblin with my sword, "We can last a bit longer on our own. Just get to the Crystal fast!" I don't hear anything after this. I assume that Noct has left, but I'm not sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I took down the last daemon and then look around for the guys. I see them all except Noctis.

"You think he found it yet?" I ask in between breaths.

"Let's go and find out." We follow Gladio to the other door in the room. I assume he must have seen Noctis leave.

When we leave the hangar, we find a room with a large elevator in the middle. The decent is long but eventually we reach a large corridor with the Crystal at the other end. We sprint towards it to see the Crystal has stopped shinning and Ardyn is standing in front of it.

He turns around and tells us that Noct is trapped I side it. We all start attacking him with our weapons. Unleashing all of the anger we've had towards him for months. Eventually, he falls to the ground, seemingly dead, but it isn't long until he stands back up. We see his face is covered in the sludge that had covered Ravus. He smiles daemonically and tells us what he had told Noct.

He was Ardyn Lucis Caelm. Brother of the founder king.


	26. Chapter 26

"Hey, Ex-Retainer." I am rudely shaken awake by my driver. My eyes fluttered open and he let go of my arm, "You need to get out. I have more hunters to drive around today." 

I groaned and sat just sat there rubbing my eyes for a moment, "Hey! Do you hear me?" I rolled my eyes and quickly grabbed the bag of meteorshards at my feet. I then opened the door and got out without a word. I sleepwalk through the streets of Lestallum, ignoring all of the stares I get as I make my way for the square.

Everyone knows that I was a retainer for King Noctis. They always ask me about our journey together and why he disappeared, but I refuse to tell anyone. I don't want to share my memories with those four boys. They all just stand there, burning holes in my body with their eyes. As if that would make me finally crack or something. I just hand over my meteor shards from the last hunt to a woman in the square and then head back home.

Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We headed back to Cape Caem in silence. Most of the journey back had been quiet. We had no idea what to do after Noct was sucked into the Crystal. We had called Cor, the only person we can turn to in times like these and he ask to meet him in Caem. I just stood near the edge of the boat, looking out at the sea, the only light source coming from the moon.

Eventually, the lighthouse in Caem came into view. It shined brightly for us, welcoming us back.

"What do you think he wants us to do?" Prompto asked.

It was quiet for a while, none of us were sure how to answer, "Who knows," I mumbled.

"Perhaps we'll be helping the hunters." Ignis chimed in.

"Yea. There's gonna be a lot more daemons from now on," Gladio added. It was like we had all lost a purpose. We had been trained our whole lives to protect and guide the king, and now we no longer have one.

When we reached the dock below the light house we stepped out one by one and slowly shuffled into the building. It was empty inside, not a soul in sight. We figured everyone was at the cabin, so we walked up the stairwell to the elevator. When the elevator opened it was a horrible site. Bombs and Flan surrounded the cabin. Cor, Dustin, and Monica try to defend it on their own, but they were clearly out numbered.

"Quick! Protect the cabin" I yelled before aiming my polearm for a warpstrike. I instantly killed an ice bomb in front of Cor and then quickly used a fire spell on the horde coming towards him. They didn't die right away, but they slowly burned to a crisp.

"Finally, thought you'd never show up," Cor sighed.

I smirked, "Wouldn't want your legend to end here," It didn't take very long to kill the daemons now that we were here to help. Afterwards, Monica quickly ran inside. I assumed Iris and Talcott were still inside.

"So, I see you were serious about the King," Cor said between breathes as he put his katana away.

Gladio sighed, "Yea, he got sucked up by the Crystal."

"Ardyn said he need to obtain the full power of the Crystal," I added.

"Ardyn?" Cor questioned. We explained to him who he was and told him that he claimed to be a part to Noct's family. Cor didn't look very shocked by any of this. He brought us inside and revealed something very shocking to us.

Hundreds of years ago, when the Crystal was brought to us a man named Ardyn Lucis Caelum was anointed by the Crystal. I thought back to what he had said to Ravus in Gralea.

"The Crystal chose me, not you,"

He said that in legend the True King, in attempt to save everyone from the darkness, he began consuming daemon energy. This did hold off the end of our world, however, the Crystal started to reject him. When it was discovered what he was doing, the founder king casted him into exile. The darkness inside of him consumed him and he grew hateful. Because of his immortality, he went into hiding and waited for the Crystal to anoint a new king. 

After that sunk in we asked him what had been happening here in Lucis. He told us that there has been no daylight for days now.

"All of the hunters and Kingsglaive have been stationed in Lestallum. Guess you can say we're turning it into a quarantine zone. We need more people to protect the citizens and hunt for meteorshards that way we can have more light at all the outposts."

"So, you want all of us to join the hunters?" I asked.

"Actually, I need some help in Hammerhead. The boys can come with me, but I'm afraid Glaives need to stay in Lestallum." I froze for a moment. I could barely understand what he was saying. I looked over at Gladio who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He just stared long and hard at the floor. 

I could feel eyes on us both. It was dead silent, and without a word everyone left the cabin. Cor was the last one to leave. Before he exited he looked over his shoulder at us, "We'll be waiting outside by the road,"

Gladio and I were silent and didn’t look at each other. It was only a few minutes of this, but it felt like an eternity. Gladio sighed, although it sounded more like a scoff, “We shouldn’t keep ‘em waiting…”

I slumped my shoulders in sadness. I guess whatever feelings he had for me were gone… I stand up quickly and burst out of the cabin so that he couldn’t see my tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I laid there on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I often spent my days looking at the patterns at the walls and turning them into shapes in my mind. I would just stare blankly for hours, trying to forget that I'm here.

As I was looking for all of the letters of the alphabet in the ceiling I heard a knock downstairs at my front door. I groaned as I sat up. All though I'm hated there are people here who still like me. Mostly just people who I met on the journey. I walked down stairs, thinking it was probably Iris and Talcott paying me a visit or something.

I swung open the door and sighed, "Hey. Sorry guys, but I'm really not in the mood fo..."

I trailed off and lost my train of thought as I looked at the man in front of me. A man I hadn't seen in years.

He looked at me nervously, hands in his pockets, "H-Hey,” he stuttered in his usual gruff voice. I just stood there dumbfounded as Gladio waited eagerly for me to let him in.


	27. Chapter 27

"What are you doing here?” My words come out like venom. I stood in the door frame barring my teeth in anger at the man in front of me.

"Well I had some free time on my hands and… thought about spending it with you,” Listening to the sound of his voice felt strange. It made my knees weak and yet it also felt... Wrong?

I suddenly got a flash back to that night in Altissia so many years ago. When I had run back to my hotel room soaking wet. When he had confessed his love for me. When he promised he’d stay… When he lied to me…

"Sorry, but I’m busy.” I begin closing the door, but he reaches his hand inside to stop me. I opened the door again and glared at him. He seemed different somehow. Almost calmer than I remember. He said nothing, but I could see in his eyes that he was begging me to give him a chance.

I began boiling with rage, “You treated me and the others like garbage after the rite in Altissia. The last time we saw each other you couldn’t even look at me!”

“Neither could you.” He argued. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, “Can’t you at least let me explain myself. Just once?” I didn’t look at him. I took a few minutes to think about it, then begrudgingly moved to the side to let him in.

He enters the apartment slowly, as if to make sure he’s not crossing some kind of line. I followed him as he headed for the sofa, but instead of sitting I just stood in the middle of the room. My apartment was mostly empty. My living room only consisted of a sofa and coffee table.

I took a good look at him for the first time. He looked the same, yet different at the same time. He now had a man bun and more facial hair, and something about him seemed more mature. He was even more attractive than I remember. We were both silent for a moment, then he patted the seat beside him, “Sit with me?” he asked.

I stared at him for a moment. His eyes were soft, not intimidating like before. I did as he asked and hesitantly sat beside him, making sure not to get too close to him. I crossed my legs and sat patiently for an explanation. However, Gladio remained silent.

He chuckled nervously, “Don’t really know where to start…”

I sighed and stared up at the ceiling in annoyance, “How about you explain to me what the hell happened after Altissia?”

He sighed, “Look, I’m sorry. I was going through a lot, and you know I can’t handle my emotions well.”

“Are you serious, Gladio? You don’t think we were having a hard time too?” he didn’t argue back. He just looked down at the floor in shame.

“Yea… I know that now…” I almost felt bad for yelling at him, but I wanted answers.

After a moment of silence, I decided to ask a question that has been bothering me for years, “Why did you lie to me…?”

He knitted his brows in confusion, “What do you mean I lied to you?”

I took a deep breath and moved my eyes upward to stop myself from crying, “The night you confessed to me, you told me that your feelings for me wouldn’t change,”

He looked shocked and almost hurt, “I never lied about that,”

I almost laughed, “Then why the hell did you treat me so badly?” My voice cracked as I spoke. I didn’t want to cry in front of him, but I can’t stop myself.

He reached for my arms and gripped them lightly. The action made me flinch slightly, which brought a sad look on his face, “Baby, you have to know I never meant to hurt you.”

I snapped my head towards him and looked deep into his eyes, “Then why?! Why did you push me on the train? Why didn’t you comfort me? Why didn’t you let me comfort you? Why didn’t you say anything when you knew we wouldn’t see each other anymore?”

He just stared at me with his mouth wide open in shock, and for the first time I saw actual tears in his eyes. He tried to speak, but nothing would come out. Finally, he dropped his head on my shoulder and held me tightly, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry,” I didn’t know what to do. I had never seen a tough guy cry before. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around his body. As I did he squeezed me tighter and sobbed quietly into my shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Gladio calmed down we sat on the couch in silence. I lightly rubbed his leg as he sniffled ever now and then. The silence was uncomfortable and unbearable. I tried to come up with something to say, but nothing came to mind.

Gladio just sighed and stood up, “I shouldn't have come here… I don’t deserve to be with you…”,"

He stood in front of me for a second, then held a hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet. He rested his hands on my waist and just stared at me for a moment. He quickly wrapped his arms around me tightly and I hugged him back. We stayed like this for a while, and finally he whispered, “Goodbye, Y/N”

He let go of me and turned so that he wouldn’t have to look at me. Without really thinking, I grabbed the back of his jacket. He didn’t look back, “Please… don’t leave me again, Gladio.”

I can tell from his trembling shoulders and his cracking voice that he was crying again, “I have too. I don’t deserve you. You deserve someone better than me… and you won’t get over me unless I never see you agai-“

I cut him off and yell, “I don’t want anyone else! Gladio, you’re the only one I need!” He still didn’t turn around.

“Why? Why do you want to be with a piece of human garbage like me?” He asked.

“Because I love you, you idiot!” he looked over his shoulder at me with wide eyes.

“R-really?”

I let go of his jacket. I had never told anyone I loved them before… I didn’t even realize I said that. But it was the truth. I’ve always loved him, “Of course I do… Yea you’re kind of a jackass, but I still love you… I always have,”

Before I could even think, Gladio pulled me in and planted his lips onto mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back passionately. He pulled away to catch his breath, “I love you, Y/N.” He came in for another kiss, then quickly pulled away, “I love you so much.” Hearing him say that drives me crazy.

I walked back towards the couch as we kissed, wrapping my fingers in his hair. I tug on it lightly which causes him to groan. The sound is such a turn on that I can’t stop myself anymore. I’ve been waiting for this for so long and I don’t want to wait anymore. I fall back on the couch, and it catches him by surprise.

He broke the kiss, “Wait!” he panted heavily and caressed my face, “I… I can’t,”

I frowned, “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He dropped his head on my chest as if he were listening to my heart beat, “I’m just scared you’ll regret it…”

I sighed. I cupped his face and pulled it towards me. I looked into his eyes and spoke softly, “Didn’t you hear anything I said Gladio? I’ve been wanting this for years. I won’t regret it if it’s with you,”

He brushed my hair with his fingers and thought about it for a moment, “Then how about we go up to your room instead,”

I smiled, “Okay, baby”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The now shirtless Gladio dropped me down on the bed and laid on top of me. He cupped my face with his hands and whispered, “Don’t be afraid to tell me to stop, okay baby girl?” 

I nodded and he immediately started placing kisses on my neck. I leaned my head back to give him more room and closed my eyes. His facial hair felt rough on my soft skin, but in a way, it felt so good. I gripped his shoulders tightly in pleasure, almost digging my nails into him as he lightly nibbled my tender flesh. A light moan escaped my lips and I could feel him smile into my neck. His warm hands moved their way up my shirt, just feeling around. 

He breathed heavily, “You’re body is so sexy, Y/N.” I could feel all the warmth in my body run down to my core. He gripped the hem of my shirt and tugged on it, signaling to me that he wanted it off. I sat up, and he quickly and swiftly pulled my shirt over my head. He threw the shirt to the floor and laid on top of me again. I never thought the feeling of someone’s shirtless body would feel so good against mine. He now began kissing my collar bone and slowly moved down to my breasts. He hesitated for a second as his lips touched the fabric of my bra. 

I whined slightly, “Please don’t stop.” He did as I asked and wrapped his arms around my back to undo my bra. He unclasped it with ease and pulled the undergarment off and onto the floor along with my shirt. He leaned back to gaze at my body and inhaled sharply. He came back down and lightly sucked on my chest. I couldn’t help but pull on his hair, which encouraged him to keep going. I wrapped my arms around his back, in fear that I’d pull his hair too hard, but I accidently scratched his back. The action causes him to moan. I just want to make him make that noise again and again.

His starts to unbutton my pants and pull them off. He takes a moment to admire my body as he moves his hands around my legs. I can feel goosebumps covering every inch of me as I lay there, just staring up at him with hungry eyes. I reach my hands up to touch his abs. Their so hard and his skin was so soft. I breathed heavily as I felt his body and he chuckled. 

Then I suddenly stopped as I felt his finger tips slip under my panties. He was nowhere near my privates yet, but it made me nervous. He stopped and stared at me to observe my actions, “Can I?” he asked. I nodded quickly and he laughed again. He went in further and began to slowly rub my sensitive spot.

I gasped, but was cut off as he kissed me again. He started off slow and gentle, but started to pick up the pace. The faster he went the louder I moaned. And the louder I moan the faster he went. He began to moan as well, as if simply pleasuring me turned him on more than me pleasuring him. I could feel my core tighten as I almost reached my limit. But before I could release that tension, he stopped.

I started to whine, “No, Gladio, please! Please don’t stop! I can’t take it anymore.” 

He smiled and lightly gripped my chin, making me look up at him, “Slow down, baby. I plan on taking my time with you. I hope you’re not busy today. Or tomorrow.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> READ ME PLEASE!
> 
> Okay, so I feel bad cuz so many of you commented that you wanted me to keep going with the last chapter, but unfortunately I feel very uncomfortable writing stuff like that. I honestly don't know why, but I can only write the build up and if I try to write more I feel weird and the writing comes out terrible. So I'm sorry about that, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! Anyway, onto the story.

We walk hand in hand towards the gate of the town. The past few days with Gladio had been wonderful, and I didn’t want him to leave. We had finally managed to rebuild the relationship we once had, and now we’ll be separated for who knows how long. I started to feel worried. What if we stop talking again? What if we end up back in this same position years later? When we reach the main gate I'm not sure what to say or do. I just stand in front of Gladio holding both of his hands in mine, looking down at our feet.

He grabbed my chin and pulled my face to look up at him. He raised a brow at me and asked, "Are you okay, baby?"

I grip his hands tighter and pull him a little closer. My forehead rests on his chest, "I just..."

He wraps his arms around me and pets my hair, "It’s okay, baby girl. I won’t be gone long. I promise." I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of his cologne one last time.

I smiled to myself, "I love you, Gladio."

He hugged me tighter, “I love you too, Y/N.” I held onto him tightly wishing that I didn't have to let go. He eventually pulls away and I fight the urge to hold him tighter. He kisses me softly before saying goodbye.

I quickly turn around to head back to my apartment, not wanting to watch him possibly leave me for another couple of years. I start thinking about what I should do now. I hadn't been hunting in a few days. Perhaps...

"Y/N!" I turn back to see Gladio jogging towards me. As he tries to catch up I notice him press a button on his phone. "Iggy just texted me. Noct’s back!"

My jaw drops to the floor. At first my mind it blank. Nothing exists for a moment and I forget how to think. Then it hits me. All of the pain and sorrow I had felt instantly washes away.

Our savior is back.

"What are we standing here for then? Let's go!" I grab his hand and run back towards the gate.

When we exit the town I immediately notice a Hammerhead truck parked in the gas station. I sprint towards the vehicle, my hand still wrapped around Gladio’s.

I let go when we reach the truck and I quickly get in the back. I buckle in and look up to see Prompto in the driver's seat and Ignis in the passengers. They looked so different. Ignis’ hair was slicked back, and he wore dark glasses to cover his eyes. Prompto had finally started to grow some hair on his face and both of them looked much older.

"Is that you, Y/N?" Ignis asked.

Prompto’s face was lit up, “We haven’t seen you in forever!”

I laugh, "Please tell me you’re not driving."

Prompto pouted, “Hey! I’ve gotten better!”

Gladio steps in on the other side of the back seat and buckles in quickly, "Book it, blondie. We need to get to Hammerhead fast"

“Oh, right!” Prompto starts the vehicle and smashes on the gas. In a blink of an eye we are on the road leaving Lestallum.

"So how do you know he’s going to Hammerhead, Iggy?" Prompto asked.

"I received a call from Talcott. He was driving past Galdin on his way to Hammerhead and he spotted two figures walking along the road. When he stopped it was Noct and Umbra,"

Prompto slumped down in his seat, "Wow... We're finally gonna be together again after all these years,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After pulling into Hammerhead I quickly jumped out of the vehicle. I looked around hastily for Noct or Talcott or any familiar face at this point. As the others stepped out, another vehicle pulled in. We wall walked slowly towards the truck in anticipation. I tried to peer inside the windshield, but the head lights were too bright.

The passenger door opened, and a black dog jumped out. We were all on our toes now. The black figure stepped out and closed the door and slowly walked towards us. I couldn't get a good look at him until he was right in front of us. His hair was much longer now, split in the middle to show his face for once. He had a nice beard going and the wrinkles in his face were much more defined than ours.

"Hey,"

We all chuckled a bit, "'Hey? That's all you have to say for yourself- after all this time?" Gladio said as he slapped him on the back.

Noct chuckled, "Noct. It's you! It's really you!" Prompto yelled excitedly as he walked around looking him up and down.

"Is it? I hadn't realized,"

I laughed, "I see your still the smart ass you've always been,"

"Of course," he responded smoothly. It was as if no time had passed. Those 10 odd years were just a blur now.

Ignis just smiled and whispered, "Well well. You kept us waiting,"

Without a word Noct walked toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Not like I wanted to." He dropped his hand and looked back at all of us, "We have catching up to do,"

"Let's head inside," Ignis suggests. The others quickly head inside as Gladio puts an arm around my shoulders and we walk in together.


	29. Chapter 29

"So, how do you guys feel now that you get to wear the greatest uniform ever made?" I asked. Prompto, Gladio, Ignis, and I were wearing the Kingsglaive uniform without our jackets.

"Man, this is so cool! If only I could warp too," Prompto pouted.

Gladio gave him a light smack on the shoulder, "Even after seeing what she had to go through in Altissia?"

Prompto went slightly pale at the memory, "Yeaaaaa, maybe not." I chuckled. Noct then stepped out of the tent in his Kingly Raiment. We stood in front of him, half amazed and half proud.

"Dude! Now you really look like a king!" Prompto exclaimed. I expected Noct to be embarrassed as he had always been about his role 10 years ago, but he actually looked proud of himself as well.

"You've changed a lot while you were gone," Ignis commented.

Noct smiled and turned his head away towards the campfire, "Why don't we sit and have dinner, like old times."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So Ignis, you're really cooking like you used to." Noct said as he took another bite of his favorite Mother and Child Rice Bowl Ignis had prepared for us.

Ignis laughed, "Well, I can manage with far less help than I required before."

Prompto happily took a bite as well, "Well, I'd say this is even better than I remember, Iggy."

Ignis smirked, "Perhaps I've developed a culinary sixth sense,"

"Hey Iggy," Gladio spoke up, "You oughta follow Weskham's example, open up a restaurant,"

I smiled, "I know I’d be eating there every day! You should totally do it!"

He laughed, "Perhaps I will. Assuming such demand still exists in a post-apocalyptic world,"

"Maybe you can do it after we bring back the light again," Prompto suggested, "Right, Noct?"

Noctis just stared at his bowl, moving his spoon in circles instead of eating, "Noct?" Prompto said softly.

Noct's eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he gently placed his bowl on the ground at his feet. He entwined his fingers together nervously and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "There's something I need to tell you all," he said. We each placed out bowls down and leaned forward as well.

The entire time he spoke his eyes were glued to the ground, "When I was inside the Crystal I met the Draconian, Bahamut." He fell silent, "Before giving me his blessing he told me a few things. He told me where the darkness came from and how to stop it,"

I nearly jumped out of my seat, "Really? What did he say?"

Noct didn't speak at first, "He said that Ardyn was the cause,"

This didn't surprise us much. We had already known his past thanks to Cor, "So, how do we stop him?" Prompto asked.

Noct took a deep breath, "He said I had to obtain the full power of the Crystal... But that can only be done on the Kings throne,"

"Seems simple enough," Ignis said.

"Yea, Insomnia is just right there," Gladio said. We had chosen to sleep on the outlook of the city. The place where our misery began.

Noct didn't look at us, he just furrowed his eyebrows once more, "But... In order to get the power a sacrifice has to be made,"

The tension around us was high. None of us dare say a word. Noct let put a broken sigh, "As he said, 'Many sacrifice all for the King; so must the King sacrifice himself for all," It seemed like the silence went on for an eternity. No one had any words for what we just heard. Noct then broke the silence for the first time, "I know I have no right to ask this, but I want you four by my side in the end,"

We all looked up at him in shock. Tears welled up in my eyes at the choice. What should I do? Watch my good friend die before my eyes? Die alongside him? I wanted to live alongside Gladio and the others after this was over. I wanted to finally feel the rays of sunshine on my skin after 10 years of darkness. I started wondering how I would die. It was my choice after all. I thought about all the things we had been through. I thought about my vows as a Glaive. I swore an oath to protect Insomnia and the King.

For hearth and home.

"Well," I said. Everyone was now looking at me, "Insomnia is gonna be overrun with daemons. Someone has to protect the Citadel while you do your thing,"

I look around and saw nothing but love and sadness is their eyes. I swallowed a sob about to escape my throat. My words were broken from holding back tears, "I swore to King Regis I'd stay by your side and protect you no matter what, Your Majesty. And I'm going to keep that promise." When no one said anything I just hung my head low and faced the ground. I can hear quiet sobs and sighs from all four of them.

"You know what," Prompto said, "I'll do it too. That's what best friends are for after all," Noct looked like he was about to break down now.

I made a few promises to King Regis myself, and I would never break them." Ignis said.

We all looked to Gladio, "Same here. I am your royal shield,"

Gladio quickly picked his bowl back up again and began eating to keep this stuff out of his mind. We chuckled and did the same, "Thank you," Noct whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the dishes were done we sat in silence, watching the campfire burn. "The five of us around a campfire. How long has it been?" Noct asked.

I smiled, "Far too long,"

It was quiet again, "I, um" Noct mumbled.

"Out with it," Gladio grumbled.

Noct looked up at all of us, "I just..." He paused. He clenched both fists and sighed, "Dammit. The he'll is this so hard?"

The tense mood came back. Soon the tears would too, "So I..." Noct pushed back his tears and spoke up louder, "I've made my peace. Still... Knowing this is it. And seeing you hear now," the tears started to fall for all of us.

Noctis' lips trembled, "It's... More than I can take," he choked out.

I buried my face in my hands and let silent tears fall down my cheeks, "Yea, your damn right it is," Prompto said.

Gladio let out a small laugh, "You spit it out,"

Ignis sighed, "It's good to hear,"

I let my hands fall from my face, no longer embarrassed by my tears like I was all those years ago, "At least we were able to spend one last camping trip together,"

Noct stood up and stared at us all. He could no longer hold back the tears, "Well, what can I say? You all are the best,"


	30. Chapter 30

As we walked through the empty streets of Insomnia we reminisced about our days here. We even pulled up memories from when we were children. I laughed as I listened to all the funny things they had done before I met them.

"Fashionably late, I see," we look up and see Ardyn standing innocently on top one of the old and broken street lights. He turned back to look at the Citadel standing tall ahead of us, "Insomnia, the Crown City of my Kingdom,"

He turned back around to face us and lifted his arms up on his sides, "I bid you a warm welcome,"

A bright light shined above him. Balls of flame began falling from this bright light, setting the city ablaze.

"What the hell's he doing?" Gladio asked. I whipped my forehead with my arm as the heat quickly began to rise.

"I've prepared something special for you, Noctis," We could barely hear Ardyn over the sound of the flames, but as he finished his sentence a bright red transparent wall formed around the Citadel.

"What?!" Noct yelled as he stated off in disbelief.

"You sick bastard!" I took a step towards him but was stopped when Gladio held his arm out in front of me. For once I wasn't upset that he was holding me back.

Ardyn chuckled, "It is the same Wall your father gave his life to sustain, Noctis. I thought it might serve as a lovely reminder of your Daddy Dearest. Do you like it?" He laughed again. This was the most ominous laugh I'd ever heard from anyone.

"I must go now. My little pet will greet you at the gates," he quickly vanished before any of us could react.

Giant metal hands began climbing out of the ground around us and we quickly ran towards the Citadel, killing any daemon in our way. It was much harder to get around than before. So much flames and daemons in the way. Not only that but there were also still imperial weapons left from the ceasefire.

As we approached the gates of the Citadel a large beast came into view. As we got closer we could see it was a giant three headed dog.

It had been asleep at first, but once it sensed us it's eyes shot open to reveal glowing orange orbs. As it stood up flames burned inside all three mouths.

"Must be his 'little pet'," Gladio said. The beast suddenly shot a burst of flames around us. I block my face from the intense heat and then look around behind us.

"It's blocking us off!" I yelled.

"Well, if we can't run then all we can do is fight!" Ignis responded.

The dog launched itself in the air and came back down above us. I quickly warped away from the blast, but the others didn't seem as lucky.

"Y/N! Noct! One of you try to attack it in midair," Ignis suggested.

"And what? Keep it from jumping around?" I asked.

"Precisely,"

Noct and I looked at each other and once again we instantly read each other's minds. I warp in front of the beast and began dancing around and waving my arms to get its attention.

"Hey! Hey big guy, look at me! That's a good boy!"

Once all its attention was on me I summoned my sword and threw it as high in the air as I could. It jumped up to catch me as I warped, but Noct's warp strike sent it back done.

Once I was in the clear I threw the sword back down before I crashed to the ground. I then heard bolts of lightning in the distance. I looked up over my shoulder and saw Ramuh high in the sky.

Gladio then suddenly grabbed me and pulled me to a nearby subway station entrance where I saw Ignis and Prompto motioning us to move faster.

We headed down to the bottom of the stairwell and plugged our ears as the thunder crashed down on the beast outside. When the rumbling stopped and we could no longer hear anything we crept up the stairs and outside to see Noct standing by the gate and looking directly at us.

"It's safe now, don't worry," he said.

We headed towards him as he inspected the gate. There was no opening in the Wall for us to go through.

Prompto scoffed, "Looks like there's no way past the wall,"

We turned as we heard demonic giggling behind us. There was a horde of daemons coming toward us. It was way more than we could ever handle. It was like every daemon we had ever seen were here.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Looks like there's no way out of this," Gladio mumbled.

"We can't just give up now!" Noct shouted.

A bright light shined behind us and we quickly turned to see Luna standing before us with one the Kings tridents.

Noct looked to be in shock, "Luna?"

"Gods above, hear my plea:" she prayed, "lend the Chosen King your strength that he may save our Star from darkness blight."

Another bright light shined beside her and Gentiana appeared, "The lady's words have reached the heavens. By the will of the Oracle, a path for the King is made."

Gentiana vanished in a bright light and things began to get crazy. Ramuh appeared once again. He summoned his staff and held it high in the sky. Light struck his weapon and then bolts began crashing down on the horde below. All of the daemons went down like they were bugs. As we watched the chaos behind us a sudden chill ran down our backs. An army of ice women were flying toward us. We watched as they flew up high and shot rays of I've at the Wall. The entire thing froze solid and the Wall lost its red tint. Leviathan was next. She shot out from a nearby pool of water and wrapped herself around the Wall, weakening it a bit. She let out a horrendous shriek, one that I could never forget from our time in Altissia. The ground shook as we saw Titan running toward us once he had reached the Wall he threw his arm back and punched it as hard as he could, causing the whole thing to shatter.

What happened next came as a surprise. Bahamut came flying out of nowhere and flew high above the dome. I watched in amazement, having never seen him before. He summoned a giant sword and as he did hundreds of glowing glaives formed a circle around him, their pointed ends locked onto the Wall. The brightest light I had ever seen blasted a ray at the Wall causing the whole thing to fall apart.

I held out my hands and shards from the wall fell around us. They would disappear before ever touching the ground. I snapped back to reality when I noticed Luna was still standing before us, smiling at Noct.

Noct took a step towards her and smiled sweetly, "Luna. Thank you,"

She bowed before him and spoke as she stood straight up again, "The fate of our Star rests with you now, my King." Her voice was soft and delicate.

She held out her hand and walked towards him. Noct reciprocated and held out his hand too. As they were about to touch she vanished.

We stood behind Noct in shock, "Talk about divine intervention," Gladio said.

"The gods have entrusted the future to you Noct," Ignis spoke up.

"Yea, wouldn't want to let 'em down," Noct headed for the gate and pushed it open. We walked towards the large steps to the Citadel and stopped once we noticed Ardyn standing at the bottom.

He stretched out his arms and smiled, "Ifrit, the Infernian. He doesn't share the Glacian's fondness for mankind." He let down his arms and looked at us smugly, "But you can expect a... Warm welcome," he turned and walked up the stairs. "I shall await you above."

After finishing his sentence, a burst of flames appeared between us. Ifrit sat upon his own throne, surrounded in a wall of fire.

We quickly ran towards him, Noct a bit more ahead of us. The Infernian shot a gust of flames at us to stop us. I blocked my face with my hands, shielding myself from the blast. When I look up Noct is on the ground as Prompto is trying to put out the flames on him. I also see Ignis ducked begins a small wall and run towards him.

Gladio grabs mr and Noct and we sprint towards Ignis and Prompto. We all duck and hold each other as Ifrit strikes again. Once he stops the others run out to fight.

I hold out a potion to Noct and break it in my hands, "Here,"

He gets up quickly, "Let's go!"

As the others get up close and personal I stay back, using ranged weapons and ice magic to attack. I see Noct get scooped up in the Infernian's hand and he's screaming from the burns. I quickly warp strike his hand with a sword and he let's go of Noct while throwing me back as well. 

I land on the ground hard and try to stand on my own while coughing from the smoke and the impact from the ground. Ifrit then stands and the fire and smoke clears. I summon my sword but stop when I notice the guys running to take cover while Noct stands confidently.

I immediately know that Noct is about to summon. I take cover behind a small wall as Bahamut flies over head and a giant sword crashes down where Ifrit's throne once stood. Noct falls back from the sudden impact and looks up as Bahamut summons a wheel of swords again. He sends them flying down like the first sword had and Ifrit is dodging every single one.

Ifrit then takes out his own weapon and blocks Bahamut when he comes crashing down. I fall into despair, thinking that this has failed, until Noct warp strikes Ifrit and the Infernian goes down.

As the Draconian disappears we run up thinking it's over. But when we reach Noct Ifrit stands up and becomes engulfed in flames.

"So even that wasn't enough?" Gladio whined.

Noct summons a wheel of weapons, all of which are the glaives from past rulers, "Let's put him out quick," Noct says and we instantly know what to do. We each grab one of his weapons and launch as many attacks as possible.

I deliver our final blow by grabbing a greatsword and throwing right past Ifrit's head. I warp and then keep moving through the air towards a street light. I grab onto it and spin around it, letting go as soon as I'm facing the flaming beast again. I quickly swing the sword as hard possible and let it go as it hits his face.

As he comes crashing down the intense heat is replaced by a chill wind. I pointwarp behind to the guys taking cover behind a wall again.

We watch as the group of ice women appear and surround Noct. All except one fly in circles upward around Ifrit, freezing him solid. The one woman left behind the slowly glides towards the Infernian and places a gentle kiss on his lips, causing him to shatter.

As she does this we hear a voice, like Gentiana's, whisper, "Rest my love..."


	31. Chapter 31

When we reached the top of the steps, Noct slowly pushed the giant doors open. Light spilled out and burned out eyes. It had been years since we saw light brighter than a small dim lightbulb.

"It's all lit up," Prompto commented.

"Guess he's expecting company," Gladio added.

We all looked around the room and were stopped by an ominous voice, "That was a most impressive performance,"

We all looked around for the source of the voice, "You that that was good?" Noct asked, "Wait until you see what we've got in store for you,"

Ardyn laughed, "I'm afraid you've one more Wall to break through first. The Old Wall- the Kings of Yore."

A purple silhouette appeared in front of us, similar to the silhouette our warping ability leaves behind. The silhouette then became full and a giant towered over us, clad in ancient armor and brandishing a large mace. I immediately recognized it as a royal arm. I remember studying the old kings during my training and instantly recognized the figure.

This king was known as The Fierce, "Come forth, O Chosen," he groaned as he limped toward us.

Noct looked up at the King in anger, "I thought the kings of old were on our side,"

Suddenly, The Fierce jumped up and held his mace over his head, "Look out!" Ignis yelled.

The impact of the mace caused the stone floor to shatter, "We must keep Noct safe at all costs!" Ignis ordered.

"Don't worry about me," Noct said.

"What kind of Glaives would we be if we didn't." I asked. I threw my sword at his head to warpstrike but when I warped all I saw was a purple light and then suddenly I was knocked back.

I hit the ground on my stomach hard, all of the air in my lungs being knocked out of me in the process. I tried to push myself up with my arms as I gasped for air. I looked up and saw that The Fierce had brought up a magic shield, similar to mine. However, his wrapped around him like a dome.

Gladio grabbed my hand and pulled me up on my feet, "What kind of Glaive would you be if you got yourself killed now?" He asked sarcastically.

"Smart ass..." I muttered.

The Fierce jumped up again to smash the mace on our heads. Before I could even react Gladio blocked the attack with his shield. The Fierce falls back and becomes disoriented.

"Let me handle this," he said without looking at us. He now has his greatsword on his shoulder and held his shield ready to block again if necessary.

The king slams his mace down again and Gladio blocks it again. I can see that he is struggling this time as The Fierce tries to overpower him, "I've been your shield through thick and thin." He parries the king and he stumbles back as Gladio replaces his shield with a large katana he had received years ago after leaving us in Caem, "No matter what, I've got your back- now and always!"

He crossed the two blades in an X and in the blink of an eye he was suddenly behind the king and he had swung his blades in a cross across his body.

The Fierce went down and Gladio fell to one knee. We all ran to Gladio's side, making sure he wasn't injured.

"Forgive me..." The Fierce moaned, "My mind was not my own," he then disappeared in a blue flame.

I ran to Gladio's side and tried to help him up, "Are you okay?" I asked gently.

He tried his best to smile, "Yea," Gladio was panting between his words, "This shields a little sturdier than he looks." I helped him onto his feet and he tried to stay up on his own without me, "We'd better keep moving. Come on,"

We followed Gladio to a hallway across the room from the front entrance. He then stopped in the middle of the hall, "Think the elevators workin'?"

We all look at each other unsure. I sigh, "Only one way to find out," I pressed the button next to the door and it lights up.

After a few moments the doors open and we sigh with relief that we don't have to waste our energy climbing the stairs. As we enter I hear a strange growling noise in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from outside somewhere.

"Do you think the daemons will try attacking the Citadel now?" Prompto asked as the doors closed.

I thought about it for a moment, "Maybe, but let's hope they don't."

Prompto sighed, "I can't believe this is actually happening,"

"It's time to take it all back," Ignis said.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall of the elevator, looking down at my feet, "After 10 long years..."

"It ends here... Tonight," Noct finished. The doors finally opened and we found ourselves in a round room. We looked around in confusion.

"This isn't part of the Citadel..." I whispered.

"Must be another trick," Gladio growled. And just as he said this a limping figure appeared.

It was a tall and skinny woman holding a shuriken. Her back was facing us, but she seemed to be in severe pain, "Welcome... O Chosen," she turned to face us and I recognized her as the Rogue.

She groaned and then suddenly vanished. We looked around for her desperately but couldn't find her. All we heard were her sinister laughs.

"Y/N!" I was suddenly pulled by the back of my collar and a blade flew just mere millimeters from my face.

She then appeared in front of me and goes to swing at my head. Gladio quickly pins me and the other boys down.

When he lets us back up I see it was Prompto who helped me before. Prompto stood up much faster than me, "She can't fool me,"

She swings at him again, but Prompto kicks the weapon out of her hand before she could hit him, "I owe Noct everything...," He grabbed the weapon quickly as it fell back down and threw it directly into her chest, "For standing by me always. And now... It's my turn to stand by him!"

Prompto took out his hand gun and shot 3 trick shots in the blink of an eye. She went down easily and suddenly we were all blinded by light, "Go forth, Chosen King... Restore the Light..."

When our visions cleared we were back in the halls of the Citadel. Prompto was kneeled over trying to catch his breath, "Take it easy," Noct said as he put a hand on his back.

Prompto chuckled, "What kind of friend would I be if I 'took it easy' when you're in trouble?"

Prompto stood up straight and whipped the sweat from his forehead, "I'll be fine. Let's keep moving,"

We moved on through the maze of corridors until we reached a very special room. The room where the Crystal was held. Now it was completely empty. As we approached the middle of the room, where the Crystal once stood a large blade pierced the floor in front of us.

That blade... It couldn't be...

A King appeared in front of us and pulled the glaive from the ground. He seemed to be in much more pain than the other two we had encountered. When he turned toward us I gasped.

"What's wrong?" Ignis asked me.

"That's The Mystic..." I whispered.

"You mean..." Gladio started.

"The founder King," Noct finished.

"And Ardyn's brother," Prompto added.

The Mystic swung is weapon through all five of us without a word. We all crashed into a wall and fell to the ground in pain. I got up onto my knees and held out my hands to heal us all, but it only worked so much.

The Mystic limped toward us slowly, "Looks like we're in for one hell of a fight," Noct groaned.

Ignis stood up and stood in front of all of us, still laying on the ground. He held out a fire flask in his hand, "I'll see to it that nothing stands in Noct's way!" The Mystic came at him fast, but Ignis was faster.

He managed to dodge each attack and steer the Mystic away from us in the process. Once they were far enough away Ignis launched the flask at him and the king went up in flames.

The Mystic held up his weapon again to strike, but Ignis blocked it with his polearm, "And I will do whatever it takes- no matter the cost!"

Ignis then parried the attack and quickly pierced the King with his spear. The Mystic fell to his knees and we thought that'd be the end, until a bright light shined again and we were back in the circular room from before.

The Mystic looked stronger and angrier than ever. Ignis quickly ran to our side, "He's gone mad!"

Noct summoned his sword and groaned, "Just great..." He went to warpstrike, but the King struck him down.

The Mystic stood over Noct and held his weapon up high. A sudden instinct mixed with fear surged through me. I pointwarped in front of Noct and quickly summoned a magic shield before the Mystic struck his weapon down.

I struggled against his weight but managed to parry and use a fire spell before he could come to his senses, "I swore an oath to give my life for the Chosen King." I summoned my polearm and jumped high into the hair. I hovered for a moment, "And I won't give up even if it means my death!" I spun down with my weapon down toward the Mystics head, "For hearth and home!"

My blade pierced his skull and once I was sure it was over I jumped down from the King and turned to face him. In a quick burst of light, we were back in the Crystal room.

"You have done well..." The Mystic then disappeared just like the other two had.

Ignis and I fell to our knees in front of each other. I had never felt so exhausted after a battle, "Don't push yourselves," Noct said.

Gladio rushed to my side and took a hold of my hands, "Haven't you heard anything we've said?" I asked as he helped me up.

Noct's eyes fell to the floor. Gladio placed a hand on his shoulder, "We're ready to give up our lives for you."

"Yea, we can't let you die now." Prompto added.

"Indeed," Ignis paused for a breath, "Now... Onward,"

We followed Noct to another door, but he stopped before opening it, "You alright?" I asked.

Noct turned to face us, "Oh, yea I'm fine, but... Prompto. Can I see your photos?"

"Uh..." Prompto looked at each of us confused, "Yea!"

"I just need one... To take with me," Noct explained.

Prompto's face filled with sadness, but then he quickly turned it into a soft smile, "Oh, yea. I get it," we gathered around him as he pulled the photos from our journey from his pocket, "You can take whichever you like,"

We stood there, flipping through photos and reminiscing about our time together. As Noct looked for a photo I pulled one from Prompto's hands without anyone noticing.

It was a photo of Gladio and I. He had his arm around me and a cheeky smile on his face. I as in the middle of rolling my eyes as he photo was taken. It may not have been the sweetest picture, but it was still special in a way.

I had no idea what would happen when I died, but if I could use this picture to preserve my memory of him it would be worth it.

"Hey, Prompto," I could sense all their eyes on me, but mine we're focused on the photo. I then looked up and saw that I was right, "Could I take one with me too?" I asked quietly.

He smiled, "Of course you can. All of you can," we spent a little more time going through photos before Noct finally picked one.

Then we followed him through the door to the throne room. For a second, I wished we hadn't come here.

Along with the Crystal, Luna, Regis, and the leader of the empire. Their corpses were strung up above the throne in chains. Their clothes ripped, their skin rotten and grey.

There was another body amongst them and something about it was familiar. I stepped further in and looked closer as the guys followed.

"Nix?!" What the hell was he doing with all of them? I knew he had to be dead since he never showed up in Lestallum, but why?

"You know him?" Gladio asked.

I glanced over my shoulder and then back at the corpse, "An old war buddy, I guess,"

"I'm afraid your out of luck," We looked down from the bodies to find Ardyn in the throne, "The throne brings you here?" He laughed devilishly, "It seats only one,"

Noct kept his expression cool and collected, "Off my chair, jester. The king sits there,"

Ardyn quickly stood up and stomped his foot down on the seat, "Oh, Noct  
... How I have waited for this." He stood up straight and sighed, "Longer than you can ever know,"

He held up a hand and balled it up in a fist, "Tonight the dreams of the blood royal come to an end," he suddenly stretched out his hand and I was hit with a jet of black smoke.

I fell to my knees and clutched my chest, feeling my eyes falling shut. I had no time to listen or to view my surroundings. I fell to the ground unsure if I'd ever open my eyes again.


	32. Chapter 32

After what only seemed like seconds my eyes shot open and I sat up quickly, looking around of the others. I saw Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio starting to wake up, but Noct and Ardyn were long gone.

I began shaking the guys awake one by one in a panic, "Guys. Wake up! Noct is gone,"

The boys, now wide awake, began panicking too. I then heard the sound of warping and explosions. I looked up at the gaping hole in the wall next to the throne and ran up the steps leading to it.

I found Noct in midair, a wheel of weapons swirling around him, "He's outside!"

We quickly ran out of the throne room to reach our King.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we burst through the front doors we found Noct kneeling down beside Ardyns body. We slowly walked towards them, breathing sighs of relief. When we reached the bottom Ardyn vanished in cloud of smoke.

Rain began pouring down us and Noct stood up, walking past us and up the first few steps without a word. He turned to face us and looked at each of our faces carefully.

Ignis was the one who decided to speak up, "So, this is farewell?"

"Yea. Here we are," Noct answered.

Gladio put on a tough face, "It's all you,"

Noct nodded and turned to go inside, "No turning back now," Prompto whispered. Noct froze in place and turned back around.

He stared down at us for a moment, "I leave it to you four. Walk tall... My friends,"

We all stared up at him in silence. My instincts from training kicked in again and I held my right hand over my heart and bowed, "Yes, Your Majesty," The others did the same without hesitation.

When we straighten up Noct's hand was over his own heart, "The time has come," he turned around and that would be the last time we saw him. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I watched him leave.

"Y/N..." I turned to face Gladio. I had never seen him so afraid. I reached my out and rubbed his arm in a comforting gesture. Tears welled up in his eyes, "I'm sorry. About everything." We were silent for a moment. I didnt want him to feel bad for everything I'm the past, but I didn't interrupt him, "I wanted to grow old with you, and prove that I could be a better man... But" I turned my head to the sound of daemons rising from the ground.

I quickly looked back at Gladio, "It's okay, baby. We'll see each other again... I just know it," he smiled sadly at me and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

We turned to face them and mentally prepared ourselves. My breathing was unsteady, but I had never felt more ready. And then Gladio whispered the last words I'd ever hear him say, "I love you,"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as tears streamed down my cheeks. I looked back on our time together.

When I had met these boys on these very steps. When our Regalia broke down and we had to push her to Hammerhead. When Gladio chased me in the pouring rain. When he confessed and kissed me for the first time. When we reunited and we made love for the first time.

I had heard him say those words before, but now that this would be the last time I'd hear them I could barely handle it.

Without looking at him and putting on a strong face I whispered, "I love you too." We summoned our weapons and gave it our all to protect the Citadel.

I fought like normal, but the number of daemons were overwhelming. Eventually, I heard someone cry out in pain. I turned to find Prompto motionless on the ground, "Prompto!" I yelled.

Immediately afterwards I saw Ignis get struck down by a spider woman. He fell to the ground without any resistance, "Ignis!"

At this moment time slowed down. I realized what was happening and turned in all directions until my eyes landed on Gladio. He held up a good fight but was suddenly knocked back by an Iron Giant. He fell to the ground hard and did not try to stand up. It felt as though my vocal cords shattered as I screamed his name.

An endless pool of tears fell from my eyes as I felt powerless to do anything. I wanted to fall to my knees and give up when I heard a strange sound. I looked up behind me and saw flashes of blue light coming from the hole of the throne room.

Everything came back then. I was here to protect Noct, and I wasn't going to die giving up. I was going to fight to my very last breath.

The Iron Giant that had killed Gladio was no focused on me. He swung his blade down and I quickly blocked him with my shield, barring my teeth in anger.

I parried his sword away and blasted him with many spells and warp strikes. Just as I was about to deliver my final blow with a warpstrike the giant swung his blade and cut my stomach open.

I flew back just as the others had and landed right beside Gladio. At first, I laid there with my eyes glued shut as the life drained out of me. When I finally opened them I looked down at the pool of blood spilling under me.

I then looked up at Gladio's face. His eyes were closed and his chest did not rise and fall. He was long gone. I reached out my hand and placed it over his as one last tear ran down my face.


	33. Chapter 33

Death was such a strange feeling. You lose all of your senses one by one and time moves so slow that one second feels like an eternity.

But then just when you think it's all over your senses start to come back. First, I could hear a few familiar voices from far away. I couldn't make out what they were saying. It was so faint, but I knew them from somewhere.

Then my sense of touch. I could feel the hard ground beneath me. And I could feel warmth on my skin. And lastly my sight. I fluttered my eyes open, but everything looked blurry.

I began to sit up but couldn't see a thing. I hear the voices get closer, but I still can't make them out. They sounded like they were behind me.

"Baby?" That voice...

I turned slowly and saw Gladio standing before me with tears in his eyes. Behind him stood the other three, smiling at us. I stood up slowly and he a smile grew on his face, "Oh my god!" He ran towards me at full speed and scooped me up in his arms, twirling me around.

I laughed as I griped the fabric of his clothes and smelled the cologne on his skin, making sure this wasn't a dream.

He gently placed me down on my feet and held my face in his hands, "Please tell me this is real."

I laughed, "I'm here, aren't I?" His smile almost seemed to get bigger, if that was even possible.

"Yes. You're here and you're beautiful and I love you so much." His complements came out at lightning speed as he planted kisses all over my face. I giggled and looked off into the distance and now noticed that the sky was lit up. We had finally brought back the light.

After Gladio stopped I asked, "What is this? The beyond?"

A pair of footsteps walked towards us through the gates. We all turned to see Luna heading in our direction with a smile on her face.

"Luna!" Noct ran to her side and lifted her off the ground. We smiled and watched as they finally got to be together.

"So, what happens now?" I asked as I rested my head against Gladio's chest.

His chest rumbled as he spoke, "I don't know. But I know I want to spend every waking moment we have with you." he gripped my hand tightly.

I looked up at him and stared into his brown eyes for a long time. I couldn't believe this was really. I was almost afraid that this was just a dream. That I would soon wake up and die for real.

I smiled at him, "I told you we'd meet again..."

His smile faded, "I swear to you this time... I'm never gonna leave your side. I'm yours forever."

I started to tear up for what felt like the 1000th time today. After all these years, I never thought we'd be together again. I had never felt so much pain in my life. I let go of the greatest thing in my life and I didn't intend to do it again.

"I love you, Gladio. And I always will. Now and forever..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
